


The Johto Legacy SoulSilver

by TrT_Wizard



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Gold & Silver & Crystal | Pokemon Gold Silver Crystal Versions
Genre: Action/Adventure, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-12 01:46:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 78,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7915705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrT_Wizard/pseuds/TrT_Wizard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ethan, aka Gold, a shy 16 year old, has the strangest dream of his life the day before he unknowingly receives his first Pokemon and ventures forth into Johto. Joining him is his best, and pretty much his only friend, Lyra. Along the way Kris and Silver tag along for the eventual fight against the Resurgance of Team Rocket in this epic retelling of Pokemon Soul Silver/Heart Gold.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: Dreams are made of Gold

 

**Hello Archive of Our Own! This is a story that I've been writing for three years now and after having great success with it over at Fanficion I wanted to broaden my viewership and try using this awesome Website. I plan to release my first 5 chapters and will releasing the rest periodically every other day. I hope you Enjoy!**

* * *

 

Chapter 1: Dreams are made of Gold.

I feel strange. Like I'm somewhere that I shouldn't be. The air around me is frigid and bitter, and I can feel something falling on my face.

It . . . it . . . it feels like snow. Why is there snow? Am . . . I . . . outside?

I opened my eyes and saw nothing but a pale, ever-shifting sky of grey clouds. A harsh wind was blowing snow into wild flurries.

Where . . . where the hell . . . am I?

I looked to my side and noticed that I was lying on the ground, several inches deep in snow. I leaned up to look around while brushing myself off, but I couldn't make out anything aside from the ground in front of me. The icy wind pelted me and made it impossible to see any farther than a couple yards, which only added to my confusion.

How the hell did I get here? Is this a mountain, or some sort of frozen wasteland? And why don't I remember how I got here? Where is my home?

I tried to stand up, but the raging wind pelted my face with ice-cold shards. With what little vision I had, I could make out the outlines of some rocks—or something; I wasn't sure. There was also some sort of broad, triangular shape off in the distance, but it was barely noticeable. It looked like the peak of a mountain, fading away as the wind grew stronger. This place felt so desolate and isolated, yet so . . . familiar, like I was here before.

"Hello . . . is there anyone there!?" I yelled, but the roar of the wind was deafening, and I couldn't even hear myself.

The sheer loneliness that I felt was overpowering, and my sweatshirt was starting to give in to the cold. I wrapped my arms around myself, but it did little to fight off the freezing wind. Ice began to cling to the ends of my hair, as well as to my sweatshirt. I felt alone and afraid as I stood there in the bleak, unforgiving snow. I tried to walk, but the snow was deep, making each step an intense struggle. I could feel the frigid ice clawing away at my legs. Unfortunately, with every step I took, I felt like I was going nowhere. Nothing in my surroundings changed and the tracks I left in the snow were quickly swallowed up by the raging blizzard in mere seconds. There were no landmarks, no anything really; just snow and the hazy wall of wind and ice that surrounded me.

This was pointless—I wasn't making any progress! And where the hell was I going, anyway?

I stopped in my tracks when I heard something from behind me. It sounded like the flapping of wings or something like that, but the wind made it barely audible. I stood there for a moment, unsure if I had actually heard what I thought I heard. It was so faint that it could've been just a whistle of the wind. But then I felt a presence of someone or something. I don't know why, or how, but I knew that something was behind me.

As if heeding to some primal instinct, I turned around in the snow to see what was there. The wind was intense, and I held my hand in front of my face to keep the snow out of my eyes. Then I saw them: standing before me were the dark, hazy outlines of two large shapes. It was hard to make them out, but they looked like some sort of Pokémon. They both had what looked like long necks: one ended in what appeared to be a pointed arrow shape, while the other was narrower and had some sort of bulge or crest-shaped thing on it. I tried my best to see these figures that towered over me, but I could see nothing more than their hazy grey outlines.

I stood there in the freezing cold, wondering where these figures came from and if they would move. Then, as if reacting to my very thoughts, the two figures suddenly pointed their heads toward me as what looked like eyes flared open on both of them. The eyes of the arrow-headed one glowed a soft silvery-blue, while the eyes of the one with the crest burned bright golden yellow.

I took a step back in reaction to their sudden movements and was ready to run. But they just stayed there staring at me, unfazed by the icy wind that flowed around them. Then, suddenly, one of them spoke.

"The day of binding is coming."

Those words were uttered in such a way that it sounded like the voices of hundreds of people talking in unison. I don't know how I could tell, but I somehow knew that the golden-eyed one was saying those words. But the way it spoke wasn't literally sound, though; more like it resonated inside my head.

"And servitude will befall all," said another voice similar to the last one, but more feminine. It seemed to come from the blue-eyed one.

"But two will join to quell it," uttered the golden-eyed one.

"They are the Messiah and the Pariah," said the blue-eyed one.

They were talking one after the other as if they were synchronized in their thoughts—once one finished, the other spoke. But what they were saying made no sense, and I was growing frustrated and utterly confused.

"Wait, what? . . . What are you talking about?" I tried to say, but was drowned out by the wind.

"But sadly, they will fail," said the blue-eyed one.

"Unless both find that which they seek more than anything, before time runs out."

"And with that the two will put an end to that which is missing, but still there."

"What the hell are you talking about? You're not making any sense! How did I get here? Who are these people? What the hell is missing but still there!?" I begged, but once again the wind was too loud.

The two massive figures were both silenced for a moment and just loomed there staring at me, but then they continued.

"The old hero is gone," the golden-eyed one began once again.

"But the Messiah . . ." echoed the blue-eyed one.

". . . and the Pariah . . ."

". . . will take his place once they find the things that fill their voids!" they both said in unison as their eyes flared intensely.

Then the two forms faded away, as if they were made of dust, and dissipated along with the snow that blew furiously around them.

"Wait! Come back! What does any of that mean!?" I yelled again.

But they never came back, and the winds grew more intense. The sheer loneliness returned and nothing—nothing at all—made sense. My legs and arms were getting numb; I've never experienced this kind of sheer cold before. I just stood there shivering, hoping for someone to find me.

Then I felt something shift in the atmosphere. I didn't notice it at first, but the winds that raged around me had become silent. I looked around and wondered what the hell was going on. Then I felt something, something I could only describe as a presence. But this was different than the one I felt before—it felt familiar, yet intimidating. I turned slowly once again, and off in the distance, among the raging winds, stood a figure.

It was hard to make him out, but he stood there as if he always knew I would be here and was patiently waiting. He reached his hand up and tilted what looked like a baseball cap.

"Who . . . who are you?" I said, my voice echoing across the silent winds.

"..."

"Ethan! Time to get up, sweetie!" I heard echoing from downstairs, into my room.

I awoke from my sleep and found myself in my bed. Was that all . . . just . . . a dream? But it felt more real than any dream I've ever had in my life. Jeez that was weird—I hope I never have a dream like that again.

The room was still dark, and it was hard to guess the time thanks to my room facing away from the sun. I turned to see my clock on my nightstand, rubbing my eyes to see better; it was 9:20 AM. I sluggishly got up and sat on the side of my bed, wondering why my mom would get me up at this hour when she usually lets me sleep in till eleven on weekends.

I looked around my room with my PC in the corner and the Wii & TV combo right next to it. On the other side of my room stood my bookshelf, filled with science fiction and fantasy novels I've collected over the years. And there were also some posters of my favorite films made by Pokéstar Studios hanging on my walls; my room is pretty geeky now that I think about it. I stretched my arms, scratched my back, and got out of my bed, heading for the stairs. On the way I grabbed my favorite red hoodie and black sweatpants.

"Morning, Ethan," said my mom, getting breakfast ready for me.

I yawned in response, "Morning, Mom," while walking down the stairs.

I walked over to the table to eat the prepared scrambled eggs and toast. Once I finished I asked, "So Mom, was there something you needed me for?"

"Well, actually, it's your friend Professor Elm. He gave me a call and asked for you to meet him at his lab—he said he needed you to do something important for him. I guess those summers working for him has won you some favor with him."

"Hmm, really? I wonder what he wants. Well I don't want to keep him waiting—thanks Mom."

I headed for the front door and grabbed my black-and-gold baseball cap hanging on the door hook and walked outside. New Bark Town wasn't very big, and for the most part was a quiet town that was surrounded by forest. My house sat at the very edge of the town, on the shoreline of a river that leads to Kanto. There were many homes and flea markets, but not much else; it's more of a residential town. As I made my way up the street, I noticed the wonderful springtime weather, and that many of the trees had begun to flower, releasing their odor, lofting it into the breeze.

"Ethan, look out!" a familiar voice called out from behind me.

I turned to find the source when out of nowhere a Marill ran into my legs and fell over on her back.

"Oh no, you okay little guy?" I said as I bent over to help the round Pokémon up.

As I looked up, I saw a slim girl running towards me. She had chocolate eyes and brown hair, which she put up in pigtails. She was wearing a big white hat with a red bow on it, short-short suspenders, and a red shirt. She was roughly a foot or so shorter than me, and carried a yellow bag with her. It was Lyra, my best—and probably only—friend since I was little.

"Oh, sorry about that, Goldy boy," she said with her iconic smile, walking up to me. "Me and Marill were playing hide and seek, and she must've gotten turned around and wasn't looking where she was going," she said apologetically.

"It's okay—no worries."

"So Ethan, where were you going before, well, you know, Marill ran into you?" she asked with a slightly embarrassed face.

"Oh, I was going to see Professor Elm. He said he needed me to do something important for him."

At that moment, I saw Lyra's eyes light up with excitement.

"Oh, you know what I think?" she said confidently with her finger in the air. "I think you'll finally get your first Pokémon today—that has to be it! Think of it, you've been helping him out so much, I bet he's going to reward you. Oh, how exciting! I can't wait to see—here, I'll come with you."

She grabbed my hand and almost threw me off my feet as she made off with me towards Professor Elm's lab.

"Whoa, Lyra, calm down. What makes you think I'll be getting my first Pokémon? I mean, he probably just wants me to fetch something!" I exclaimed, pulling my hand free.

She stopped for a second and looked back at me with her cute smile, and said, "I don't know—I just got this feeling, you know? Come on, let's go!"

And she was off again at a brisk pace, with me tailing behind.

I never understood what made Lyra so outgoing and positive. It's one of those things I always liked about her since we were little. Lyra was fifteen years old, while I'm sixteen, and she moved here with her mom about five years ago. I was really shy, and I didn't have any friends back then, until I met her. She was so cheerful and fun, and she hung out with me all the time. Although, to be honest, we weren't exactly friends from the get-go; in fact, I found her to be rather irritating at first. She would always get into my business when I wanted to be left alone, and she would always play pranks on me, which she still does today, but I eventually learned to like her quirkiness and spontaneous attitude. The day I met Lyra was the day my life turned around for the better, and she's always been the one who brightens my days. And she can kick my ass at any fighting game on my Wii.

After a few minutes of walking, we arrived at Professor Elm's lab. It was a large building at the edge of our town that had a very different architectural feel, with more of a contemporary, modern look as opposed to the classic look of the rest of the town. It was the newest building in New Bark, commissioned about two years ago. I volunteer my time there to help Professor Elm with his research, but mostly because I want to work with Pokémon.

"Well, let's go in," said Lyra, but the next moment her phone rang. "Oh, come on," she groaned as she rolled her eyes with disappointment. "That's probably my mom. If my hunch is right, then she must need me for something. I have to go—I'll come back later to see your new Pokémon."

She then waved good-bye and ran off, back into town with her Marill trailing behind her. After she disappeared into town, I turned to face the lab, but something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. It was subtle, but I definitely saw something move fast. I turned again and I caught a glimpse of a shady figure roughly my height with noticeably red hair that darted behind the side of the building. I was hesitant to act; I wasn't sure if I should pursue or not. What if this guy meant trouble? I decided to push past my instincts and investigate what I saw.

I rushed to the side of the building to find the mystery person. As I looked around the corner I saw a kid who looked my age with red hair draping over his eyes and ears; he wore a black jacket with red trimming along the pockets and edges. He was intensely looking at the side of the lab, as if inspecting it, and cursing quietly like he kept failing to find something. I stayed hidden for a while, not sure of what to do. I have to do something, I thought, this guy has trouble written all over him. But what if he has a Pokémon on him, or what if he tries to attack me? Worried, I took a deep breath and thought it over, and then I decided that I had to confront him, or else something worse might happen.

I called to him, "Hey, what are you doing back here?"

In response, the red-haired kid snapped his head toward me and gave me an intense look.

"Hey, piss off, kid!" he exclaimed, standing up and pointing at me. "How about you mind your own goddamn business!" Quickly, he dashed off into the woods and was gone before I could run after him.

After that unpleasant encounter, I wondered who he was. I certainly never saw him before in this town. And what was he looking for? I was afraid to keep thinking about it and tried to move on. Besides, I knew if he tried to get in the lab he wouldn't be able to without the use of a keycard. So I headed back to the front of the lab and went inside, using the keycard that Elm gave me during the summer when I was working with him.

The inside of Elm's lab was wide and open, with mostly bookshelves near the front and lots of cool machines near the back. The tiles on the floor were white like marble, and every so often I could find a pile of papers scattered around the floor or on a table. As I walked towards the back, I couldn't help but notice three Poké Balls on the table there. I thought to myself, Perhaps Lyra was right—maybe I will get my first Pokémon today.

"Ah, Ethan, you're here—glad to see you!" exclaimed Professor Elm.

"Good morning, Elm, how's it going?"

"I'm doing well, thank you, Ethan. Now then, I called you in today because I have something important I need you to do for me. An associate of mine who goes by the name Mr. Pokémon was raving on about his newest discovery recently, and he said I should stop by to pick it up. Unfortunately, I'm very busy at the moment, so I need you to go to his house and pick it up for me. So, are you up for it?"

"Sure, where is his house?"

"That's the spirit—I knew I could count on you. He lives north of Cherrygrove City, on the road. Now then, the trip will take a while, and you'll be trekking through wild Pokémon habitat, so I thought it would be best if I let you have a Pokémon to accompany you on the way."

At that moment, my heart filled with joy. I couldn't believe it—I was getting my first Pokémon!

"Wow, are you serious, Elm? Are you going to let me have one?"

"Well, the volunteer work you did for me over the summer proved to me that you can handle a Pokémon. Now, come over to the table—I have two Pokémon for you to choose from."

We walked over to the table and he pointed to the first ball.

"Here we have a Cyndaquil—he's a fire-type Pokémon—and here we have a Chikorita, a grass-type; both of them are very loyal and easy to handle."

Confused because there were three balls, I reached for the third and asked, "Well, who's in this one?" while I pressed the center button to release the Pokémon.

"No wait, put that down!"

It was too late. I had already pushed the button, and in a brilliant flash of light, an upright blue Pokémon with a large mouth and reptilian features was revealed, and, once fully formed, it chirped like a baby alligator.

"Careful Ethan, that Pokémon is a Totodile—they have a nasty habit of biting people. I tried working with him, but ever since he came back from his last owner he's been too wild," Elm warned me.

"Oh come on, this cute guy? He can't be that bad."

I turned to face the Totodile, who was currently under the desk, so I kneeled down to the floor. Once I was at his level, I reached for him. The moment I motioned toward him the small gator snapped his jaws at me, but missed narrowly.

"Oh shit!" I cursed, pulling my hand away from the Totodile and falling onto my back.

"Ethan, you all right?" Elm worried, as he motioned to me.

I looked up at the Pokémon in fear and tried to crawl away. It was bearing its teeth and hissing very loudly at me and Elm. Elm tried to get to the Poké Ball on the table, but the Totodile snapped its jaws at him and he backed off. It then focused its attention back on me and started to walk closer with its jaws wide open, ready to make me a shredded mess. I crawled back frantically, trying to get away, but that's when I saw it. It was brief, but I know I saw it, or at least I think I saw it. It was fear. I didn't see hate in the Pokémon's eyes—I saw fear. He was afraid, just like me. I looked closer and then noticed what looked like a scar on the side of the Totodile's left arm. That's when it hit me. The scar, the fear, the mindless attacking—it was all the product of some kind of abuse the Totodile had endured! I quickly took off my sweatshirt and threw it to the side.

"Hey, hey, hey, stop! Just hold on a sec—look, see? I have nothing on me!" I exclaimed as I pulled out the insides of my pockets in front of the enraged gator Pokémon, hoping to prove to it that I had nothing that could hurt him.

The Totodile stopped in its tracks and looked confused at my display. And, to be honest, I would've been confused too.

"Look, you're scared. I can see that. Okay, I'm scared too—just understand that I don't want to hurt you," I said, trying to find anywhere else I could hide something, and then show I had nothing hidden there.

"Ethan, get back, he's about to—" Elm warned as he reached for the Poké Ball.

"Elm, wait! Trust me on this—he's scared of us!" I interjected.

Then, in continuing my trend of proving I had no weapon on me, I took my bag and emptied what I had inside on the floor and kicked that away. I noticed a turkey sandwich and reached for it. The Totodile hissed at me for trying to reach for something and started walking towards me again.

"Wait, wait ,wait! Look, it's just a sandwich!" I said frantically as I got the sandwich off the floor. "Look, I don't want to hurt you," I said, holding out the sandwich to the Pokémon. "I promise I won't hurt you—I just want to give this to you."

The Totodile looked very confused, but still ready to strike—its eyes were still watching me for what felt like an eternity. It took one step, but then it paused and looked at its scarred arm before hissing again.

"Did someone do that to you?"

The Totodile looked away from its arm and gave me a funny look.

"I promise, I'm not like whoever did that to you. I just want to be your friend, 'cause sometimes, even if you don't want it, you need someone to be your friend. Let me be your friend," I said, thinking about what Lyra did for me five years ago.

Something in the Totodile's eyes shifted: it was subtle, but I could sense something in him had changed. Totodile slowly closed its mouth. Then, after a few seconds, it took a step closer to me, then another, and another, until he was mere inches from my hand. Then he stood there, staring at me. He then looked at his scar, then back at me. I was holding my breath; I didn't know what would happen next. I saw the Totodile open its mouth, and I closed my eyes and looked away. Then I felt the sandwich leave my hand. I looked back and saw the Totodile sitting next to me, eating the sandwich.

"Oh, thank God that worked," I said, breathing a collective sigh of relief.

"That's incredible, Ethan! I've had that Totodile for over a week now and I could never get him to be so docile. How did you know what to do?" Elm asked as he walked over to me.

"The scar on his left arm—I think he got it from his previous owner, and I thought because of that he was afraid of other people, so I showed him I had nothing on me that could hurt him," I said as I stood up and got my sweatshirt and the other stuff I tossed around. "So can I bring him with me?"

"Well, Ethan, I have to say, I'm very impressed. I think it would be perfect if you brought him with you. I think you're the only one who can teach him to like other people again, but are you going to give him a name?"

At that thought, I picked up the Totodile—who was still eating his sandwich—and put him on the table, looking at him for a second.

"Hmmm, you know I've had an idea for a name for a long time now. I'll name you after a great and powerful river. From now on, your name will be Nile. Well, what do you say—do you like it?"

Nile looked up at me and gave me a subtle look, then went back to his sandwich.

"Well, I guess he likes it," I said as I reached to pick Nile up.

*Snap!*

"I guess Nile still needs a bit more time with you before he trusts you completely. But it looks like he only gave you a love bite." The professor chuckled to himself.

"Owww . . . I guess you're . . . arghh . . . right," I uttered painfully with Nile still latched on to my hand. "Come on, Nile—let go, please!"

At that, Nile released my hand, and I put him on the ground to walk with me. Then I grabbed Nile's Poké Ball along with everything else that fell out of my bag.

"Okay Elm, I'm off to visit Mr. Pokémon. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay. Here, take a few potions in case Nile gets hurt," he said, reaching for several purple-colored bottles from a nearby cabinet.

"Thanks, Elm."

I grabbed the potions and put them in my bag, and then Nile and I headed outside. When we left the lab, I saw a familiar face smiling at me, waiting across the road.

"Hey Lyra, check out my new friend—but be careful, he's a bit shy."

At this, I noticed Nile was hiding behind my leg and bearing his teeth at Lyra. She ran over to me with her Marill tailing behind.

"Oh my God, Ethan, he's so cute! What's his name?"

"I named him Nile, you know, after the river," I said reluctantly, realizing how silly the name was now that I thought about it.

"Wow, that's a cool name," she said, kneeling down to see him.

"Really? You think so?"

"Yeah, totally, Nile is a great name. Isn't that right, Nile?" she said, reaching for Nile.

"Careful, Lyra, he's not—" But before I could finish, she was already petting him down his back.

Wow, seriously? It took me what felt like an hour and a whole display of trust to get this close to Nile, and she can just walk up and pet him like she knew him. I guess that's another thing I admire about Lyra: she always has this aura of positive energy. Pokémon and people alike cheer up just being around her.

"I think Nile is perfect for you, Gold—you two will make great friends. So, come on, let's go to the pond and have Marill and Nile swim together," she said enthusiastically.

"Really, you're calling me Gold again? I thought I told you that nickname is too childish. Anyway, I'd love to go, but I have to go to Cherrygrove City and meet a friend of the professor's today."

"Aw, really? I thought we could hang out today," she muttered, looking down in disappointment.

Feeling nervous, I said, "Um, don't worry, I'll be back later, though—we can hang out then."

"Well, okay, I guess I'll see you later then. Come on Marill, let's go back home." And with that she took off back into town.

I then turned to Nile.

"Well, Nile, guess we need to get going too—let's head for Cherrygrove City."


	2. Chapter 2: New Friends and Rivals

Chapter 2: New Friends and Rivals

The road to Cherrygrove was little more than a beaten dirt road, considering it only connected to our small town of New Bark. A large road was never needed for our town, and, like most roads in Johto, they were mostly left open and enveloped by nature in order to avoid disrupting the habitats of wild Pokémon.

As Nile and I walked down the path, I noticed that Nile was keeping a very close eye on me. He also wouldn't come any closer than five feet from me. I didn't blame him for not trusting me completely, considering that whoever his previous trainer was didn't treat him well and probably gave him the scar on his left arm. Heck, I'm impressed that my whole charade at the lab was able to get Nile to follow me in the first place. I guess Lyra's contagious positive aura has rubbed off on me. After about an hour of walking, I decided it was about time to stop for food.

"Nile, let's stop for a sec. I bet you're hungry from all that walking."

Nile's ever-watchful eye then seemed to relax a bit. I guessed the promise of food made him feel safer. I found a nearby log on the side of the road and sat down on it; I then pulled up my bag and reached into it for a sandwich and some food for Nile. I placed the food for Nile closer to me, hoping to get Nile to break his five-foot safety distance.

"Nile, come here and sit closer. You know I won't hurt you."

Nile paused for a bit, but he then waddled over and climbed the log to sit next to me, never taking his eyes off me. While he was eating, I decided to get a better look at his scar. It was about four inches long and ran vertically on the outside of his left forearm. It looked like it was made by a knife, or at least something very sharp, and that it hurt a lot. I reached for his left arm to get a better look at it, but as I was moving my hand, Nile snapped his jaws at me.

"Whoa, Nile, calm down! I just wanted to look at your arm," I exclaimed, jerking my hand away.

Nile then looked down and made a low chirp, like he was sorry he almost bit me.

"It hurt, didn't it? You're afraid I'm going to hurt you again, aren't you?"

Nile nodded his head, but continued to look down. I could tell he was sad, and that he was remembering the time when his Trainer hurt him.

"Look, Nile, I just want to look at your arm and see if there's anything wrong with it. But if you don't let me see it, you won't be able to trust me. I promise I will never hurt you."

At this point Nile was very much a bag of mixed emotions—I could tell that he wanted to trust me, but he couldn't stop thinking of the time he was cut. After a very long pause, I was about to give up on it when he held out his left arm. He was looking away with a tensed face, like he was about to get a flu shot.

I saw what Nile did, and said, "Okay Nile, I'm just going to look at your arm—you'll be fine."

I slowly reached for his arm, watching his expressions carefully. With every inch I moved my hand, I could tell that Nile was fighting the urge to bite me. Still, I moved my hand closer, and as I grabbed his arm, he sharply looked away and hissed as if someone had just put antiseptic on an open cut. But when he opened his eyes and looked back at me, he saw I was only examining his arm and nothing else. The scar looked nasty—the scales that ran down its length were jagged and misshapen and slightly paler than the rest of his skin—but the arm's muscles and bones underneath felt normal, and everything functioned well.

"See, just like I promised. And it looks like your arm is fine, but I doubt that the scar will go away, sorry."

Nile was very distraught and didn't know how to feel. It took a lot of courage to do what he did, considering his scar was a permanent reminder of what people could do to him. After I let go of his arm, I patted him on the head to try and cheer him up. In response he nuzzled his snout against my arm. That must've been the first time Nile's shown any compassion in a long time. I wondered who Nile's original owner was, and why he would hurt him.

Whoever he is, I hope I never have to meet him—people who are cruel to Pokémon and people are appalling to me.

As I pondered about what reasoning someone would have to hurt this Totodile, Nile suddenly looked towards the forest, jumped down from the log, and started growling at the forest line.

"What is it, Nile?" I asked, looking to where Nile was growling.

It wasn't long before I saw a Pidgey break out of the tree line, heading straight toward us. It must have smelled our food and was intent on stealing it. Initially, I was shocked to see the incoming Pokémon, being that I've never been attacked by a wild one before, but even more surprising was what I saw in my Totodile's eyes. They were burning with an undeniable passion to fight; I couldn't believe how eager he was to take the Pidgey on.

Having seen the vigor in my new friend, I said, "Okay Nile, let's see what you can do."

But before I could tell Nile what to do, the Pidgey came in, flying low like a dive-bomber, and went for a quick attack. The avian creature landed a blow on Nile and shot back around in the air before soaring in for the next attack.

"Nile, try to land a bite next time he comes around, but stay on the move."

Nile then started to run along the side of the road, and when the Pidgey came in for the attack, Nile sidestepped and tried to snap his jaws at the Pidgey, missing narrowly. The Pidgey, though, in order to avoid the bite, lost control and crashed a few feet away from Nile.

"Quickly Nile, while it's down, go in for the bite!"

Nile ran up with his jaws ready and landed a bite on the Pidgey's right wing. But, amazingly, Nile then used his momentum to flip over the bird Pokémon like an acrobat. While still latched on, Nile landed on his feet and whipped his head forward, releasing the Pidgey and launching it several feet. The attack threw Nile off balance, unfortunately, and he fell forward flat on his face; but his attack was so fluid and well executed—I had no idea Nile could do that. The Pidgey, having recovered from the dizzying flip, got up and flew off. It was obvious that the Pokémon knew that Nile was too much to for it to handle. Seeing as Nile was victorious, I ran over to the Water-type to congratulate him.

"Nile, that was amazing! I had no idea you could do that!"

I could tell that Nile was unsure about how to feel; he obviously wasn't used to praise. I went to pick him up and gave him a hug. When I looked at his face, I thought I saw him crack a smile for the first time, but it looked odd, like he wasn't sure how to really smile. After I looked him over for any potential wounds, we were back on the road again. As we were walking, Nile was much closer to me than before, and he was less tense in his composure.

As I thought about the fight we just had, I couldn't help but think about other Pokémon Trainers, Pokémon Gyms, the Pokémon League, and even the world's current champion, Red, whom no one has seen since he beat the Pokémon League's Elite Four and Champion, who I thought was named Lance or something—or maybe it was Blue; I wasn't quite sure. I remember hearing about Red three years ago on the news, and how he inspired me to dream about taking on the League myself. And now that I have Nile, maybe my old dream is close to becoming a reality.

As we kept on walking, we encountered several Sentret and Pidgey, but Nile and I were able to repel them all back into the woods. Each time we fought, I could see Nile loved the thrill of fighting; he must love the idea of a challenge. It was close to midday when we reached Cherrygrove City. It wasn't a very large city, but it was still bigger than New Bark. It had several tall buildings, the largest being no more than four stories, and most being only a single story. In fact, I wasn't really sure this place really constitutes as a city; it was more like a large town. As I entered the city, I noticed Nile was clinging closely to me; he wasn't very happy about the other people he didn't trust.

"It's okay, Nile, I know you don't trust them. Just stay with me and you'll be fine."

I've been to Cherrygrove once before in the summer to enjoy some of their beaches, but this place isn't New Bark, and I wasn't exactly the most comfortable being in a large city. Cities stressed me out because of all the people. I'm incredibly shy, and I tended to avoid eye contact with others on the streets. I wished I wasn't so shy, thinking that it's kind of ironic that Nile is looking up to me to be his support when I was just as afraid of other people. When we were able to finally cut across the city, Nile and I set off towards the next road. We made our way up the road, and after a while we found Mr. Pokémon's residence. It was an old-fashioned house, much like my home in New Bark.

As I walked up to the front door, I was halted by a sudden nervous feeling in my gut again. I wasn't exactly huge on meeting new people. I stood on the front porch and felt like I should just leave, thinking this was just typical of me. I was perfectly fine just a second ago with meeting this Mr. Pokémon, but I was having second thoughts. No, I had a job to do; I just had to suck it up and do it. I knocked on the door and an old man with a white mustache wearing a brown suit and hat came to the door.

"Um . . . hello . . . are you Mr. Pokémon?" I stuttered.

"Why, yes I am. Can I help you?" he said with a welcoming smile on his face.

"Um . . . my name is Ethan Goldberg . . . and . . . I'm here to . . . pick up something for Professor Elm," I said nervously, scratching the back of my neck.

"Oh, so you're the one he sent. Come in, come in, I was just talking to my friend Professor Oak."

Professor Oak? I thought, thinking I heard his name before. Wasn't he some famous researcher in the field of Pokémon? Is he really here? I walked into the house, whose interior was very old fashioned, with PCs and research materials scattered all about. The house was clearly not built for a researcher, but Mr. Pokémon made it fit to his needs. Over in the corner of the main room, I saw a person, who I could only guess was Professor Oak, looking over a research pamphlet.

"Oak, come here a second. This young man has come on behalf of Professor Elm to pick up the thing I showed you earlier. So you two can chat, and I'll be back with the package," said Mr. Pokémon as he walked off to get whatever it was he was talking about.

"Oh, is he now? Well then, hello, my name is Professor Oak. It's nice to meet you—and look at that, you have a Totodile. Does he have a name?"

Oh my God, it is him. I was really starting to feel nervous, and I could feel my palms getting sweaty.

"Uuh . . . yeah . . . his name is Nile," I said timidly, "but, um . . . be careful, he doesn't trust other people very well."

"Yes, I can see that by the way he stands close to you, and from that scar on his arm. I guess his previous owner did that to him, right?"

"Uuh, yeah, how did you . . . know?"

"It's my specialty. I research the bonds that people and Pokémon share, and I'm very good at reading a Pokémon's body language. So, I take it you had to work hard for him to trust you, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did."

"Well, I hope you two become close friends. Have you thought about becoming a Trainer and entering the League? I hear Totodile make excellent members of any Pokémon team."

I paused for a moment, as I began to have serious doubts about that idea. I mean, most trainers who try to compete in the League never make it very far. It's only the lucky ones who actually get to take part in the annual League Tournament, like Red. And who am I? Just some shy kid with a Totodile.

"I have . . . but um . . . I don't think I'm cut out for it; I'm not talented," I muttered with low spirit.

"Nonsense, if you could get Nile here to trust you after what he's been through, then I believe that you are fully capable of taking on the Pokémon League. You actually remind me a lot of another trainer who became very successful in the League."

"Wow . . . you . . . you really think so?"

I couldn't believe it. The world famous Oak was telling me I was capable of following my dream.

"Absolutely. Here, I want you to have this." He reached into his lab coat's pocket and grabbed a red device.

"It's the newest Pokédex—it can tell you anything you need to know about the Pokémon you come across. It would come in handy for someone like you."

I hesitantly reached out and said, "Oh, wow, this is pretty cool."

Before I had much time to use it, Mr. Pokémon came in with what looked like a large egg covered in red, yellow, and blue triangles.

"Here you go, Ethan—this is the Egg I wanted you to take to Professor Elm. I got this from Johto's Day Care Center the other day, though I don't know much about Eggs. But I know Elm will be able to use it for his research," said Mr. Pokémon while handing me the Egg.

"Wow, this Egg is huge."

It was so big, it took up half the space in my bag.

"Well, it looks like you and Oak are getting along well, but it's getting late, and I'm guessing Elm would like you back before the day's end," said Mr. Pokémon.

"True, we wouldn't want to keep him waiting. Ethan, before you go, here's my number. Call me if you have any questions," Oak added as he handed me a business card.

"Thanks, Oak . . . I guess I should be going now. Come on Nile, let's not keep Elm waiting," I said, looking down at my Totodile.

As Nile and I made our way out of the house, my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID, and it was Professor Elm.

"Hey Elm, how are yo—" I was cut off before I could finish.

"Oh no, this is bad, very bad! Ethan, come back here as quickly as possible. We had a break in—someone stole our Pokémon. Just get here quickly! Oh God, how could this happen?!" And then the call was dropped.

A break-in at the lab? Oh God, I hope everything is okay! I thought to myself as I put my phone away and looked to my Pokémon.

"Nile, we need to get back home right away. Come on, let's go!"

With that, Nile and I dashed back to Cherrygrove. The sun was setting when we reached the city, and the air was starting to get cold. I had to cut across the city to get to the road that led to New Bark. As I was running, I looked over my shoulder to check to see if Nile was still behind me, but then I ran straight into someone else who was running as well. We both collapsed on the hard asphalt, and I banged my head pretty hard. When I got up, I saw who ran into me and gasped. It was the red-haired kid from earlier.

In that moment, I realized who had stolen Elm's Pokémon as I shot up and yelled, "It's you from earlier—you were the one who broke into the lab and stole the Pokémon, weren't you?!"

"Hey, ass-wipe, how the hell do you know that?!" growled the red-headed kid as he got up, looking like he would hurt me. "Look, I have no time for irritating, weak bastards like you, so just get the hell out of my way!" he ordered as he curled his hands up into fists.

"I'm not letting you leave without handing over those Pokémon," I demanded, standing my ground with Nile bearing his teeth.

"Fine, if you want to see those Pokémon so goddamn much, then here, have a look," he said, tossing a Poké Ball in the air. In a bright flash of light, a four-legged, stout Pokémon with a leaf on its head appeared. "Go, Chikorita, attack!"

The green Pokémon charged in towards me, but Nile shot out from behind me and tackled the Chikorita, stopping it right in its tracks.

"Nile, good job, now use bite!" I shouted.

"Chikorita, dodge it, and attack again!" the kid yelled with anger in his voice.

The Chikorita jumped back as Nile clamped down and missed. Nile tried to lunge again, but the stout Pokémon sidestepped around his attacks, and, with a flick of its head, it used its leaf to swipe Nile across the chest. Nile tried to bite back, but then the Grass-type Pokémon shifted to the side and flicked its head again for another swipe of its leaf. Nile staggered backwards from the attacks; I could tell that the leaf was doing a lot of damage to Nile because of his Water-type, and he looked weakened by the blows.

Nile tried to dodge the next flurry of attacks, but the Chikorita kept wailing on him. Nile desperately tried to shift out of the way of an incoming swipe and retaliated with an upper cut of his reptilian claws. The Chikorita stumbled backward from the attack and looked up at Nile. The green Pokémon smirked at him when it noticed how hard Nile was trying to stand. The water-type breathed heavily and looked back at the Chikorita with a fire in his eyes, but it was weakening. I could tell he was about to collapse.

"Nile, come on, don't give up. Let's do what you did before with the Pidgey, so get ready for his attack, and then show him what you can do!"

Nile readied himself and roared his challenge at the Chikorita. Then, with his remaining strength, he started running towards the green Pokémon with jaws ready to go.

"This kid is all talk, Chikorita—go and finish the weakling off!" the kid ordered, pointing his hand to issue the command.

The Chikorita reared up like a bull and then charged in at full speed towards Nile, as he too came in for the attack at a blinding speed. As the Chikorita jumped up to twirl its head again, Nile ducked and dashed under the jump, and clamped down on one of the Chikorita's legs. Then, using his intense speed, he kicked his legs up and smashed the Grass-type Pokémon's underbelly. While still in the air, Nile used his legs' momentum to flip Chikorita around, wrenching it out of its trajectory into a somersault and crashing down on top of it.

"What the . . . ? How the hell did that happen?! No, Chikorita, get up you weak moron!" the kid yelled, shocked where he stood and fists clenched.

But the Chikorita was down and out—the shock of being slammed in the gut and ripped out of the air was too much for it to take.

"God damn it, you useless Pokémon, get back here!" he growled, using his Poké Ball to return it. "Look kid, you won because of a fluke—that's all—so piss off and stay out of my way."

Then, unexpectedly, he dashed toward me and shoved me to the ground. My head banged against the road once more, and I cringed as I grabbed the back of my head out of pain. As I tried to get back up, I looked to my side and I happened upon an ID card. I picked it up and saw it was the kid's ID. He was as old as me and his name was . . . Silver?

"Hey, give that back, you freaking thief!" I heard Silver growl just over my shoulder, and in an instant he yanked his ID out of my hand. "Ah shit, you saw my name. Whatever, I don't need to worry about you. Your Pokémon is in no condition to fight, and I have a second one ready to finish you off, so just go home before my Fire-type Pokémon breaks his foot off in your ass!" he threatened, holding out a second Poké Ball with his finger on the button.

"What?!" I shuddered as my eyes widened with despair.

He had another Pokémon—there was no way I could fight back! I sat there in fear as I stared up at Silver's intense grimace. My moment of triumph became meaningless; Silver had stolen both of Elm's Pokémon, and I was powerless to stop him. Nile couldn't fight another Pokémon, and if I tried to make him, Nile would be seriously injured.

"Now that you've come to terms with your defeat, why don't you take your sorry ass home before I make your Totodile regret it was ever born!" Silver threatened once more with his finger itching to release the Pokémon.

I frantically crawled my way back to Nile, still looking up at Silver, terrified he would release the Pokémon. Silver chuckled to himself and put the ball away as he started to run into town, and he was gone before I could get up. With the kid gone, I quickly tried to help Nile with his wounds, and while doing so, I couldn't stop thinking about the kid's name. Silver. It's almost as if it was supposed to be the opposite of the nickname Lyra used to call me, and still does from time to time in order to make fun of my eye color . . . Gold.

It's like I was meant to meet him, my polar opposite. This was weird; I was never one for the whole idea of Fate. But now wasn't the time to dwell on that—I had to find him.


	3. Chapter 3. Two Nights I Won't Forget

Chapter 3. Two Nights I Won't Forget

I spent several hours in Cherrygrove combing the streets in search of Silver, to no avail. I had to come to terms with the fact that he was gone, and that, for all I knew, he could have been in the next town. I felt like this whole situation was my fault, and it was. I couldn't believe that this Silver kid was able to break into Elm's lab and steal not only the Chikorita, but, based on what he said, it sounded like he also had the Cyndaquil.

Why today? Why did this have to happen?

If only I could've beaten him. The fact that he could've killed Nile if he wanted to was eating away at me. I felt victorious with Nile coming out on top, but then he had that second Pokémon, and I felt defeated and powerless. Nile was in no condition to fight, and I let my carelessness from earlier cause this. And now that I couldn't find him, I felt like I let Professor Elm down and let his Pokémon get stolen.

Damn, if only I had warned him about Silver; but I thought he couldn't do anything, so I ignored him like an idiot! God, why did I do that? I'm so stupid!

In the wake of my self-loathing, I noticed how late it was. I had to come to the realization that I needed to head back to New Bark, or else everyone would be worried sick if they weren't already. I had no time to go to a Pokémon Center, so I gave Nile some of the medicine I had and let him rest in my bag. It was getting dark now, with only sparse remains of the sunset left in the sky. The road was much darker than the sky, due to the surrounding trees casting a gloomy shadow across the path.

As I walked, I reflected on everything that happened today. My thoughts were sporadic and all over the place as I thought about meeting Nile, getting the Pokédex from Professor Oak, hearing his encouragement, and then Silver ruining everything. As if Fate wanted me to know I couldn't succeed, so it sent Silver at me just to show me my dreams were silly and pointless.

Maybe I should just give up on my dream of taking on the Pokémon League. If I couldn't prevent something like this from happening, what hope would I have in the Pokémon League?

As that thought lingered, I heard a rustle in the bushes and stopped dead in my tracks.

"What was that?" I muttered, turning to face the source of the sound, my imagination running wild.

I knew it's probably just my overactive mind acting up, but I could've sworn that that sounded nothing like a Pidgey or Sentret.

"You're right."

At that moment, a shiver ran down my spine as I tensed up.

Did I just hear a voice in my head?

I quickly turned, shaking where I stood and tried to find the source of the sound. I called, "Who's there?"

"Who, who, who? I'm a ghost."

What?! A ghost?!

I felt like I was going mad—what the hell was happening? I frantically looked around, trying to find anything, anything that could explain what was going on. I had to be imagining this; I mean, there's no such thing as ghosts, right?

"What's the matter? You afraid you're going to make another mistake? If only you could have stopped him."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Get out of my head!" I yelled with my hands over my ears.

I was panicking; I didn't know what was going on. I turned again, looking for the voice in my head, and then I saw it. It was on a branch, just hanging over the road. It was round and stood on one leg, and it had two arrows protruding from its shape. The moon was just behind the figure, illuminating its silhouette. Then, suddenly, two red eyes flared open, and its head turned sideways.

"Run, before you lose again!"

I couldn't think after that—I just ran. The next thing I knew, I was sprinting straight down the road, and I could see New Bark coming up at the end. I looked back to the road I'd just run down, wondering what the hell just happened.

What the heck was that thing? Was it really a ghost? How could it speak to me? Was I going mad?

I had to forget what just happened; I needed to get ahold of myself, and I had to get back to the lab. Walking back into town, I saw the dreaded place where it all started. Just looking at the lab made me feel ashamed; I couldn't stand to face Elm knowing it was my fault Silver got away. But there was nothing else I could do—I had to go in or else things would just get worse—so I walked in. On the inside, I saw Elm talking to an officer.

"Okay, Elm, one last time to make sure I got everything: You say a kid, roughly six-foot-one with dark red hair and a black jacket, stole the two Pokémon you had in the lab, and, last you saw him, he was heading for Cherrygrove?" asked the officer, who was looking over his notepad.

"Yes, that's everything I know, and. . . . Ethan, thank goodness you're here!" Elm exclaimed, having noticed I had walked in.

"Professor, I have to tell you something," I muttered in an ashamed voice with my head held low. "I know the name of who stole your Pokémon," I continued before I paused as every fiber in my body dreaded what was going to happen. Forcing the words out of my mouth, I said, "His name is Silver . . . I know this because I fought him, and then I let him get away. He had both of the Pokémon, and Nile couldn't fight both of them."

"Silver, huh," noted the officer, jotting it down onto his notepad. "Well, kid, thanks for the info. I'll be going now, Elm—call me if anything else comes up." And with that, the officer left the lab.

"Elm, I'm sorry—it's all my fault," I said as I tried to hold back tears of frustration.

"Ethan, what are you talking about?" Elm inquired with a concerned look.

"Look, it's my fault, okay? Earlier today, I saw that kid doing something suspicious on the side of the lab, but I thought he couldn't get in, so I didn't tell you! Then, I wasn't strong enough to stop him at Cherrygrove—all I could do was beat the Chikorita due to some fluke of luck, but he had the Cyndaquil, too! He could've finished Nile off if he wanted to! Oak was wrong about me—I'm not cut out to be a trainer!" I retorted, on the verge of a breakdown.

I felt so ashamed of my screw-up; I couldn't even look Elm in the eye. I was convinced he was going to take Nile from me for letting Silver get away. After everything was said, Elm stood for a moment to process what he had just heard.

Then he put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Ethan, look—sure, things would be better now if you had told me about this guy when you had the chance. But you tried your best to solve the problem by trying to stop him; I couldn't have asked any more of you, and you made the right decision not to continue the fight, or else Nile would have been seriously hurt, right?"

"Look Elm, I can't just . . . just . . . I just can't, okay? I'm sorry I screwed up. I can't be relied on. I should just give up on the Pokémon League."

"What? You're going to give up?" Elm's voice then turned stern. "What happened to the Ethan I knew, whose old nickname stood for what he strove for? Gold. You would go on about how your name would be the thing that kept you going when you were ten years old. Don't look at Silver as your big screw-up. Think of him as an obstacle you have to overcome. I know you well enough to say that you, more than anyone, have what it takes to pursue your dream. And I think it's time you adopted that old nickname of yours. 'Cause, I'll be honest with you, Ethan never really had that same ring to it as Gold. So, what do you say, Gold? Are you the kid I know you are?"

Gold? I had forgotten how much I liked that name and what it meant to me. Lyra calls me Gold in order to make fun of my last name and my eye color; she says she never saw someone with golden eyes before, and so that's what she called me. I found it rather irritating at first, but, just like Elm said, I started to wear that name like it was a medal. When I turned fifteen, though, I decided to go back to Ethan instead of Gold, because I thought it was too childish.

But now, maybe Elm was right. No, he is right. I won't give up now!

So I swallowed my shame and said, "You're right, Elm—I shouldn't give up now. Next time I see Silver, I will beat him, and I'm also going to take on the League, and I will win!"

"That's the spirit, Ethan—or should I say Gold?" Elm remarked, happy to see me cheered up. "Well, we've both had a long night, so I think you should go home now and start fresh in the morning," he added, turning around and heading for his office.

Before he could leave, I remembered why I came here in the first place, and exclaimed, "Wait Elm, I almost forgot!"

I reached into my bag, trying not to wake Nile who was cradled up next to the Egg.

"This is what Mr. Pokémon wanted me to give you," I explained, handing the Egg to Elm.

"A Pokémon Egg? I haven't had the chance to see one of these in years—this is exactly what I needed for my research. I should start immediately," he replied enthusiastically like a kid with a new toy, walking off with it in hand.

"Um, Elm? Don't you need sleep?"

"Science never sleeps Gold, but you need to, so go home and rest. Oh, and one more thing," he remarked, turning around and grabbing something out of a nearby cabinet.

"Here, have these Poké Balls. If you're going to take on the League, you're going to need to build a strong team. Remember, the League Rules only permit six Pokémon to be used at any time. So choose carefully who to put on your team. Well, goodnight and good luck."

He gave me the Poké Balls and then went into his office. I put the capsules into my bag and then headed home. When morning broke the next day, I woke up, showed my mom Nile, and told her about my plan to take on the League. She was more than happy to see me want to take part in the Pokémon League—she even offered to save money for me on my journey in case I needed emergency funds. After that, I headed out to the local Pokémon Center to check if Nile needed any more aid. While I was there, I thought about who my next Pokémon should be. It didn't take long till I knew exactly who to put on my team, that "ghost" from the other night. Once I left the center, I saw Lyra across the street with her Marill.

"Hey, Goldy boy!" she exclaimed, running over to me with her Marill following behind. "Where were you yesterday, Ethan? You promised you would hang out with me. You had me worried," she said with her concerned chocolate-colored eyes staring up at me.

Forgetting about my promise the other day, I reluctantly said, "I'm sorry Lyra, I was late because I ran into the guy who stole Elm's Pokémon. Unfortunately, he got away, but I don't want to talk about it, if that's okay." I then shrugged, showing a bit of my previous shame.

"Um, okay Ethan, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."

"And Lyra, can you call me by my old nickname again. I uh . . . I've kinda grown sick of my real name, to be honest," I said, sort of half-laughing.

"Ha! I knew it was only a matter of time till you gave up on your boring old name!" Lyra suddenly boasted triumphantly, like she won a bet or something. "It just goes to show that I'm awesome at choosing names," she said in cocky voice as she gestured towards herself.

"Jeez, you act as if you won money or something. I'm just asking you to call me by my nickname," I retorted.

"Fine, whatever. So what were you planning to do today, Goldy boy?"

"Well, I uh . . . I've decided to take on the Pokémon League, like I always wanted to . . . so, today I need to catch my second Pokémon," I explained, holding up my hand to show that I was determined.

It was then that I saw Lyra's chocolate eyes light up with excitement.

"Oh, how exciting! What are you going to catch? A Sentret or a Pidgey? Oh, what about a Rattata? I hear they make great fighters!" she listed off, holding her hands together as she pondered all the possibilities.

"Actually, I had another idea," I said as I tried not to blush in fear of how silly I would sound. ". . . but you'll just laugh at me."

"I won't laugh, come on, tell me!" She tugged on my sweatshirt and gave me a cute smile.

"Okay, fine, but promise not to laugh," I replied, caving into that charm of hers.

"I promise, come on, tell me already," she persisted.

"All right, fine." I whispered to make sure only she heard me. ". . . when I was walking back to New Bark last night, I saw . . . a ghost. It was perched up in a tree, it had two red eyes, and I've never seen anything like it. . . . Nah, who am I kidding, you probably think I'm crazy," I said regretfully, nervously scratching the back of my neck.

"Gold, that sounds awesome—you have to show me! Come on, let's go looking for it!"

I was shocked; I didn't think she'd believe me, but, then again, this is Lyra, the girl who's eager for any excuse to go exploring.

"Wait, Lyra, we can't go right now. I think we have to wait till night, or else it won't show up," I explained, trying to keep her excitement under control before she went running off into the woods.

"Ah, really?" She sighed. "Fine, I'll meet you at the road tonight. Don't be late or you'll regret it," she threatened in a playful manner as she started running home.

Nile and I in turn did the same and went home to get ready for tonight.

Once night finally fell, I got my bag and hat together, and then set off with Nile. I made my way to the road and saw Lyra and her Marill waiting for me at the head of the road.

"Gold, come on, let's go already—I want to see the ghost," she called out, waving her flashlight.

"All right Lyra, follow me. It's about ten minutes down the road from here."

"Oh, I'm so excited!" she squealed enthusiastically.

We then set off into the night with me leading the way in search of the mysterious "ghost" I saw. As we walked, Lyra, being Lyra, asked me all sorts of questions, like what it looked like and what it was doing. But one question in particular made me feel embarrassed.

"So Gold, were you scared when you saw it?" she asked in a coy tone.

"Me? Not a chance," I boasted, trying to sound tough; but Lyra shot me down with a sly look on her face.

"Oh, sure you weren't," she replied sarcastically, mocking me.

"I was not."

In response, she stepped ahead of me and made me stop in my tracks.

"Gold, I've known you for five years now—I know when you're lying to me. You can't hide it; I can see it on your face," she proclaimed, pointing at my face with a devilish smile, like she had caught me red-handed.

Damn, she can read me like a book.

"Okay, fine, I admit it: I was scared," I muttered reluctantly with my arms crossed.

"Ha, I knew it! Score one for me!" she exclaimed triumphantly with her hands on her hips and her nose to the air in a snobbish manner.

"Whatever, you would've been scared too if you saw it," I retorted, trying to make a comeback.

"No I wouldn't, you're just a wuss." She giggled playfully to herself.

"I am not! Ughh, look, it doesn't matter 'cause tonight is different. I'm not going to get scared tonight. Tonight that ghost will be my next Pokémon—isn't that right, Nile?"

Nile, in turn, gave me a roar of approval as we entered the area where I met the mystery ghost. It was a much wider portion of road that opened up like a campsite. Some of the trees nearby were dead and gave the area an eerie tone. There was a light fog rolling in as well, which only added to the creepy atmosphere.

"This is the spot, Lyra. You see that branch?" I pointed up towards the canopy of dead trees. "That's where it was when I last saw it."

Lyra looked up at the branch, and I could tell she was trying to picture the ghost I described to her, as if it were perched there, looking down at us.

"Okay then, if this is the spot, Marill, let's look around and see if we can find anything," said Lyra as her Marill nodded and started looking around; Nile and I did the same.

We split up to cover more ground: I took the left side of the road, and Lyra the right. I combed through many bushes and even climbed a few trees to try and get a better view. I figured I might be able to see the ghost perched up in the canopy somewhere. But after what felt like an hour, both of us came up empty-handed.

"Lyra, did you find anything yet?" I asked as I descended a nearby tree.

*crack*

Suddenly, the branch I was holding onto snapped in half.

"Oh crap!" I hollered as I fell into the jagged bushes below before hitting the ground with a sudden thud.

Lyra looked over at me and laughed at my predicament.

"Are you sure you didn't just bump your head and then hallucinated?" She giggled.

"Arrgh, that's not funny. I'm telling you, I know I saw a ghost here. I don't know why it isn't showing up," I complained, trying to free myself from the bushes I fell into.

Once Lyra stopped giggling, I noticed something odd. All the ambient sounds of the night had seemed to stop, and it was almost silent. In fact, as I looked around, I noticed that the fog was seemingly getting thicker, too.

"Lyra, is it just me, or is it awfully quiet?" I remarked as I walked over to her.

"Actually, now that you mention it, I can't hear any wild Pokémon. Where do you think they went?" she asked while looking around in hopes of finding some explanation.

Then, out of the cold, dead silence, we heard a rustle in the bushes off to the side.

"Gold, did you hear that?" she muttered with a hint of uneasiness in her voice.

"Yeah, I did."

Then we heard a louder sound, this time from behind us. We both turned towards it, hoping to find the source, but we could see nothing. I was starting to get nervous, and I could feel a small shiver run down my spine.

"That sounded closer!" Lyra said worriedly as she moved closer to me.

As she inched her way towards me, we heard yet another louder rustle off to our left, then our right, then our left again. Soon we could hear the sounds of branches moving from all over the place.

"Oh God, where is it?" Lyra cried out fearfully as she tugged on the sleeve of my sweatshirt.

She wasn't the only one scared, though. My thoughts were racing as I recalled the other night. My breathing became irregular as my hands clenched together. Both of us were trembling where we stood, wondering what might happen next. Nile and Marill, who weren't that far from us, were standing still, looking around, trying to find the source of the noises as well. The sounds of broken twigs and tree branches continued to grow louder and louder as Lyra and I inched closer and closer together. Lyra clenched her fingers together as she pulled tighter on my sweatshirt. Then the rustling ceased, and we stood there, afraid to move for what felt like forever.

"Is . . . is it gone?" asked Lyra.

"I—I—I think so," I stuttered as I heard Lyra breathe a collective sigh of relief.

"Why are you still here?"

"What the hell was that?!" Lyra screamed as she wrapped her arms around my left arm.

Lyra's slim body was pressed up against me as I felt a terrible shiver run down my spine. Lyra and I were shaking horribly as we stood there, wondering where the hell that voice came from.

"Did you come back for more, coward? Who, who, who do you think you are? Oh, I see you brought me a snack—she looks tasty."

Lyra shrieked and squeezed my arm even tighter.

"It wants to eat me! Don't let it get me!" She tried to scream, but it came out muffled as she buried her face into my chest.

I tried to comfort her, but I was terrified out of my wits and could do little to help her.

"Look at that, so scared you two can barely stand."

I had to get ahold of myself—I had to fight this ghost! I had to prove I could conquer my fears!

I shook my head and pulled myself together as I tried to find Nile, who wasn't very far from us.

"Nile, get ready—this is it!" I yelled.

Nile nodded and ran towards me with Marill tailing him. Lyra was turning her head slightly, but was still pressed up against me to try and see what was happening.

"Hey, ghost! If you're so high and mighty, why don't you show yourself?" I challenged the unseen specter, trying to sound brave. "So where are you?!"

"Right behind you."

My stomach churned at those words as Lyra and I froze where we stood. After a few moments of paralyzing fear, Lyra started to shake violently, and she squeezed my arm even tighter. We both knew we had to turn around—there was no other way—but neither of us wanted to face whatever horrible thing stood behind us. Then, slowly, we started to turn—and then we saw them: two glowing red eyes.

My heart sank, and Lyra almost screamed as she buried her face once more. I wasn't crazy—the ghost from before was here, staring at me. It tilted its head, as if mocking me, to see if I would live up to my bold words. I was about run, but then I heard Nile roar.

Nile shot out from behind us and charged in, full of zeal, ready to fight. It was at that moment I came to my senses and realized what I came here to do. Nile, with jaws wide open, charged the pair of glowing eyes; but before he could land a bite, the Pokémon flipped over him, and, while in the air, its eyes shined extra bright, casting a beam of light on Nile. Then, when it landed, it tackled Nile from behind. In response, Nile turned around and was successful in landing a bite, but it didn't seem to do much as the Pokémon broke free from his jaws and flew around to a nearby tree. Once it was perched, its eyes glowed bright again, this time staring intensely at Nile.

"What's it doing?" said Lyra, turning her head to see with her cheek still pressed up to my chest.

"I think it's looking for Nile's weak point or something. Nile, don't let it get a fix on you—it's trying to figure out how to beat you. Get moving!"

In response, Nile was on the move again, trying to make his way to the tree the Pokémon was in. But once Nile got close, the Pokémon flew off the tree and moved to another one, and kept doing this over and over, taunting Nile. In anger, Nile did something new: He inhaled deeply, and then he shot out a jet of water from his mouth, trying to hit the mystery Pokémon.

"Whoa, I didn't know you could do that, Nile!" I exclaimed. "Okay then, now do that again, and try shooting it out of the sky! Then go in for the bite when he's down!"

Nile fired off several water jets, and one of them hit the Pokémon directly, throwing it off balance, causing it to fall from the canopy. With this new opening, Nile rushed in for the bite with blinding speed. But the Pokémon was up on its feet before he could make it and turned to tackle Nile. Nile landed the bite, but the tackle threw him off balance and caused him to fall back. Then the Pokémon flew up and immediately came crashing down for another tackle.

"Roll out of the way, Nile!" I yelled.

Nile rolled and narrowly dodged, then shot to his feet.

"Now use your water gun, and take it out!"

Nile then fired off several more water jets and each one hit home. This made the Pokémon fall down and finally was out. Then I saw my opportunity, so I used my spare arm to grab a Poké Ball out of my bag.

"Now you're mine, ghost!" I said, throwing the ball.

The ball opened in midair and a beam of light shot towards the Pokémon, trapping it inside. The ball then closed and fell to the ground.

"Come on, come on, work," I said nervously.

It rolled around once, twice, three times. . . . *click*

"Oh my God, you did it Gold!" said Lyra, shocked.

"I can't believe it—I did it! Yes!" I exclaimed, pumping my fist in the air victoriously.

"Now it's time to find out what this Pokémon is once and for all!" I said, reaching for my Pokédex and some medicine as Lyra and I walked over to the ball.

I picked up the ball and released the Pokémon inside. Then I gave it some medicine to make it feel better after the hard fight it had with Nile. As I gave it the medicine, I noticed that the Pokémon looked more like a bird than any ghost I'd heard of. After I gave it the medicine, it flew to a nearby tree and tilted its head.

I opened the Pokédex, and it said, "Hoothoot, the Owl Pokémon. It has a perfect sense of time. Whatever happens, it keeps rhythm by precisely tilting its head in time. They are sometimes known to have psychic powers and have a high durability. When it feels that its home is threatened, Hoothoot will use their psychic powers to play with people's emotions—some even claim they see ghosts from these encounters."

"A Hoothoot? But I thought you were a ghost," I said, slightly disappointed.

"I can't believe it—it was just using psychic powers to make us think it could talk. It was never going to hurt us; it was just defending its home," Lyra replied.

"Wait, you mean it can't talk? It was just screwing with our heads?" I remarked, looking at her then back to the Pokémon perched in the tree.

"I guess that means this Pokémon didn't have anything against me the other night; it was just a trick of the mind that played off my emotions. I can't believe it—all this time it was just a Hoothoot that liked playing tricks on me," I said, scratching the back of my head.

"Well, now that I caught you, you're going to need a name. Let me think—you're a trickster, and you specialize in the unknown . . . hhmm, that's perfect!" I said, snapping my fingers. "From now on, your name will be Merlin, after the great sorcerer of fairytales."

Merlin then tilted his head as if to say he liked the name; he then flew over to me and landed nearby. It was then that I noticed something odd. It wasn't anything to do with my new Pokémon, but rather something I felt. I noticed that my arm was getting numb and that Lyra was still holding on to me rather tightly. In fact, I could feel her still shaking slightly.

"Um, Lyra?" I asked.

"Yeah?" she uttered softly, looking up at me.

"You can let go of my arm now."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Gold!" Lyra frantically exclaimed, releasing my arm with her face blushing bright red.

I can't remember the last time I saw her face get that red before. She's always been the one who makes me blush when she makes fun of me, not the other way around.

"So, um, I, uh, I'm sorry about that—I got a little freaked out there," she stuttered, trying to hide her embarrassed face. "Um, it's late, so how about we head home, okay?" she added.

Before I could respond, I saw Nile walking behind Lyra. He stepped on a twig, making a noticeably loud sound in the process.

"Eeekkk!" Lyra shrieked as she jumped and grabbed my arm again.

As she looked back towards the noise, I chuckled to myself. Lyra is always talking big, about how much of a wuss I am, how brave she is, and how nothing can scare her.

"So remind me—which of us was the wuss again?" I remarked with a smirk on my face.

Lyra's face blushed even more than before as she looked up at me, realizing she was holding me again.

She jerked back and stuttered, "What?! No, I . . . uh, no, that doesn't prove anything! I was just . . ." She then paused.

As she stood there with her eyes shifting back and forth, presumably trying to come up with some excuse, I snickered.

"Oh, shut up!" she barked at me.

"What? I didn't say anything," I remarked in a coy manner.

"No, but you were thinking it! . . . Hmph, you're still a bigger wuss than me," she retorted in a pouty tone.

"Fine, fine, whatever you say. Anyway, we should probably get going. Merlin—return," I said, holding up his Poké Ball. And with a bright flash, Merlin was in his Poké Ball.

I did the same for Nile, and so did Lyra for her Marill. Then we made our way back home. Lyra seemed to be in a rather pouty mood—the way she walked and her composure gave it away—which I thought was hilarious, seeing as I finally got some dirt on her. If she ever calls me a wuss again, I'll just remind her of what happened tonight. After walking for about five minutes, Lyra seemed to be acting a little strange: She wasn't pouty anymore; rather, she looked like something was on her mind. It wasn't long after I noticed this that she stopped and spoke.

"Um, Gold? There's something I want to ask you," she muttered, nervously holding her arm.

"Um, sure, what is it?" I said, turning to face her.

"Um, since you're going to compete in the Pokémon League, I've been thinking about pursuing my dream, too. I've always wanted to participate in Pokémon contests, and Marill and I have been working on some routines. But that's not what I wanted to ask you; I was wondering if you could—I mean if I could—you know, um, you know, I could, um . . ."

She looked very concerned, like she was afraid of what I would say if she told me.

"If you could what?" I said, moving closer to her.

"If I could, um, uh, if I could, you know, come . . . with . . . you," she uttered nervously.

Frantically, before I could say anything, she exclaimed, "I mean 'cause you're my best friend and all, and I need someone like you to cheer for me, or else I don't think I could do it by myself! And, I was going to miss you if you left tomorrow, so please, can I come with you?"

I paused for a moment, thinking it over. As I stood there, I could see Lyra's chocolate eyes staring back at me: She looked like she had just told me her worst secret and was scared at how I would react.

I thought it over and I said, "Of course you can come with me. I think that would be best for both of our dreams if we stick together."

Lyra's face lit up and she hugged me.

"You're the best, Gold—thank you so much! This means a lot, thank you!"

She then stepped back and smiled at me.

"Well, come on—we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, so let's head home," I said. She nodded and we made our way back home.


	4. Chapter 4: Our Journey Begins

Chapter 4: Our Journey Begins

Today was the day—the day I finally started my journey to take on the Pokémon league, and, oddly enough, Lyra had decided to come with me to be my support, as well as support her own goal to participate in Pokémon Contests. I found it kind of odd that Lyra seemed so sudden and nervous when she asked to come with me. She's always been so smooth with the way she talks, and as far as I could tell never had any problems talking to me before. So what made her so nervous when she asked to come with me?

I packed everything I would need for my journey, including spare clothes, a map, a small tent, food, medicine, and anything else I could think of that might be useful. I walked downstairs to say good-bye to my mom.

"Good-bye Mom, I'm leaving, and I won't be back till I've won," I declared, fixing my favorite black-and-gold cap to my head.

"Good-bye Ethan—I mean Gold. Sorry, I forgot you wanted to be called that now. Have fun, don't give up, and remember: You can always come back if you need money," she said, hugging me. "Take care of your Pokémon, Gold, as well as Lyra. I think it's great you two decided to travel together. Be sure to support each other, and good luck," she said with a tear in her eye. "I can't believe how fast you're growing up."

She then let go of me and waved good-bye.

"Good-bye, Mom." I waved good-bye, leaving the house with Nile right next to me.

I then walked to the edge of town, where I saw Lyra and Marill waiting for us.

"Gold, let's go already! Seriously, was your mom that sappy?" she joked, smiling and giving me a sly look.

"You know her—she's so emotional. I couldn't leave without a whole speech about growing up. Anyway, here's the plan for today."

I pulled out the map and Lyra leaned over to see. Meanwhile, Nile walked over to a rock and slumped over it. Guess he isn't much of a morning person.

"Okay, so today we'll walk to Cherrygrove and take a lunch break there, and pick up anything that we may need. Then we'll make our way to Violet City and spend the night in a hotel there. Sometime today I also plan to work with Merlin to find out what kind of moves he knows. So, any questions?" I asked, looking up from the map into her chocolate eyes.

"Umm, not really. So can we go already? I've been standing here for, like, twenty minutes waiting for you to show up," she nagged in an impatient voice.

"Okay, let's go then. Nile, we're heading out!"

Nile chirped out a yawn and got up, rubbing his eyes. Marill chuckled at this, and Nile snapped his jaws in response to the snickering mouse Pokémon. Guess Nile isn't much for mockery, or mornings. Lyra and I laughed at the two bickering before we set off down the road.

We walked for about ten minutes or so when I asked Lyra, "So, Lyra, you said you wanted to be in Pokémon Contests, right? What made you want to do that all of a sudden? 'Cause I can't remember you ever talking about it before."

"Oh, um, I guess you can say I was inspired."

"By what?"

"Um . . ." She paused and then giggled. "It's a secret."

Oh great, another secret, I thought to myself, knowing that Lyra knew full well how to push my buttons, and teasing me with secrets was one of them.

"Come on, tell me," I begged.

"Nope, it's for me to know and you to find out," she taunted, smirking.

She knew that this would bug me all day, and she enjoyed bugging me. That's another thing about Lyra: she knows exactly how to screw with me, like I'm some puppet for her amusement. It's not really a bad thing—I actually found her many creative pranks to be entertaining—but she can be a little excessive sometimes.

"Well, if you're not going to tell me, can you at least tell me where you plan to compete first? 'Cause I know where most of the gyms are, but I don't know where any of the Contests are held."

"Umm, actually, about that . . ." Lyra stopped for a moment and said, "I don't know where any of the Contests are held, either."

I stopped in my tracks and turned.

"What? You don't know? This whole time, you didn't know?" I said irritably.

"I thought you knew where they were," she argued in her defense.

"How could you not know? I thought you did some research on it last night."

"Last night I was too busy packing and getting ready. I guess I forgot to."

"Ughh, seriously, you've got to be kidding me."

I sighed. "Well, anyway, Lyra, we can get info on contests at Cherrygrove or Violet City, so it's not a big deal," I said, turning around and walking again. "Sorry I got mad—you were just excited to start your journey and you forgot to do some research."

"Apology accepted," she said, smirking at me.

We kept walking and, surprisingly, ran into no wild Pokémon. I guess they tend to avoid more than one person. When we reached Cherrygrove it was midday, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I could smell the aroma of cherry blossoms wafting in the breeze. We made our way to a fast-food joint and ordered some food for lunch. We sat outside to enjoy the weather, and I let Merlin out of his ball to eat.

"So, Gold, let's see what Merlin can do. I'm curious to see," said Lyra, sipping on some soda.

"I am too," I agreed as I pulled out my Pokédex and scrolled to the Hoothoot section, showing Lyra what I found.

"Based on this, I think that the glowing eyes thing was the move known as Foresight: It allows the Pokémon to identify the target and better judge how to hit it. He also knows how to tackle, but I bet that was obvious; I don't know what he was using to scare us, though—I think it was either Confusion, or maybe Hypnosis, but that's a stretch."

"Well, get Merlin to do it again—I want to see it," she demanded.

I looked at Merlin, who was perched on a lamppost nearby, staring at something off in the distance.

"Merlin, come here—I need you to show us what you did the other night."

Merlin turned and tilted his head at me. He then flew off his perch and landed on the table. He looked at Nile, who was eating some french-fries. Merlin's eyes glowed white, causing Nile to stand up, as if he heard something and was searching frantically for it. Then Merlin tilted his head again as a small spiraling light shot towards Nile, and he fell over, asleep. Lyra giggled at this, and Merlin looked up at me for approval.

"I guess you know both Hypnosis and Confusion. I bet if you really meant it, that Confusion could really hurt," I joked.

Merlin just tilted his head, never blinking.

"I guess you're not much for expressions."

"Well, he just met you Gold—give him a bit. I bet he'll open up to you soon enough," said Lyra.

I was about to respond, but then someone walked up to our table. He was a bit shorter than me, wearing a green fleece jacket and khaki shorts, with short brown hair.

"Hello, sorry to interrupt. My name is Joey."

"Pleased to meet you, Joey," greeted Lyra, putting down her soda to look at him.

"Um, hi," I said timidly.

Talking to kids my age isn't really a walk in the park for me, what with me being shy.

"So, um, my name is Gold, and this is Lyra. Is there something you wanted?"

"Actually, yes: I couldn't help but notice your Pokémon, and I figured you were a Trainer, right?"

"Well, I guess you can say that I am, but, um, I'm kinda new to it," I admitted, scratching the back of my neck nervously.

"Well, I'm a Trainer, too," he said, pulling out a Poké Ball and tossing it up and down, "and I was looking for some action today. So what do you say—you up for it?"

"I don't know, I mean, we have to make it to Violet City today; I'm not sure we have—"

"Oh, come on, Gold," Lyra interjected, cutting me off. "We have plenty of time to reach Violet City. Besides, I love watching you fight. Oh, I even remember seeing a park nearby—you two should fight there!" Lyra said excitedly.

"Yeah, she's right. Come on, it'll be quick," encouraged Joey.

"Well, all right, if you say so—but let's make it quick," I said, holding out my hand to accept his challenge.

"All right, let's do this," Joey said, shaking my hand.

We then went to the park nearby; it wasn't very large, but it had various cherry trees in blossom scattered around and a single path that weaved its way around the park. We stood in the middle, roughly ten meters apart, with Merlin perched on my shoulder. Lyra sat on a nearby park bench with Marill sitting on her lap, and Nile, out cold, lying next to her.

"You ready for this? Time to show you the power of my But-type Pokémon! Go, Weedle!"

Joey threw his Poké Ball in the air, and in a brilliant flash of light, a small brown centipede-like Pokémon with spikes on both its head and tail was revealed.

"All right then, go Merlin!"

Merlin flew from my shoulder and landed on the ground in front of me, tilting its head towards the Weedle.

"Weedle, use Poison Sting, go!"

The worm Pokémon snaked its way towards Merlin and tried to thrust its tail at him; Merlin quickly flew up to avoid the attack.

"Merlin, use Tackle," I ordered.

Merlin dropped from the sky and crashed down on top of the Weedle. In retaliation, the worm swung its tail up at Merlin and nearly stung him before he took off again.

"Good work, Merlin—stay in the air and use Foresight!"

Merlin's eyes glowed red, and he scanned the Weedle for a weakness.

"Weedle, quickly, use String Shot!"

At his Trainer's command, the Weedle shot forth a stream of silken thread towards Merlin, wrapping his wings in sticky webbing. Merlin was trying desperately to stay airborne, but was losing his stability, and was forced to land in a nearby cherry tree.

"Weedle, after him—up the tree!" Joey instructed.

The Weedle, in quick response to his Trainer's command, scurried towards the tree and snaked its way up after the Hoothoot.

"Merlin, use Confusion!" I commanded, seeing this as a perfect opportunity to see confusion in action.

As I issued my command, Merlin's eyes glowed white; but the Weedle only looked around for a few seconds before continuing his way towards Merlin, and in no time at all was on the same branch he was on.

"Wait, what happened? Merlin, I thought you knew how to use Confusion?" I asked, confused by what happened.

"Looks like your Hoothoot has yet to master it, Gold," Joey replied. "Plus, Psychic-type moves have little effect on Bug-types. Now, Weedle, use Poison Sting!"

The Weedle fired off a barrage of jabs with its tail and riveted Merlin across his body, causing him to almost fall. But Merlin held tightly to the branch with his talons and retaliated with several pecks of his beak, which made the Weedle rear back from Merlin. Noticing this, Merlin used Foresight and saw the weakness as well as I.

"Merlin, peck away!"

"Weedle, don't let up—use Poison Sting!"

The two Pokémon went at it, firing off barrage after barrage of jabs and pecks, exchanging blows back and forth with only a few hits from either side landing home. Merlin was slowing down though: The poison was flowing faster through his veins and draining him of strength. His pecks were slowing down, and the Weedle's only got faster.

"Merlin, get out of there—try to fly."

Heeding to my commands, Merlin struggled to break free of the silk. Once free, he took off from the branch, causing the Weedle to jab at nothing, throwing it off balance. Seizing the opportunity, I yelled, "Merlin, now's your chance—dive in and peck him out of the tree!"

Merlin soared upward, then back down at the Weedle, headfirst at top speed. He nailed the Weedle dead center, knocking it out of the tree. But Merlin was looking fatigued and started losing control as he fell to the ground along with the Weedle. They both took hard hits as they crashed into the ground. For a few seconds no one could tell who won, until Merlin slowly hopped up on his leg and looked over at me, tilting his head. The Weedle, on the other hand, was out cold, and Merlin stood there for as long as he could till he collapsed as well.

Lyra ran up from her bench and said, "Wow, that was close—you two were great."

"Thanks, Lyra." I smiled back at her.

"Well, you beat me fair and square, Gold. Good job," said Joey shaking my hand.

"You did well yourself. Your Weedle is fast as heck, and that poison—man, I thought I was screwed there for minute. Speaking of which . . ." I reached into my bag for an Antidote and rushed over to Merlin to apply it. "There you go, Merlin. You did a good job—now just rest inside your Poké Ball."

I then returned Merlin to his ball with a bright flash of red light.

"Well, it's been fun Gold, but I have to get to a Pokémon Center, and I don't want to keep you waiting, so I'll see you later. Weedle, return," he said, returning Weedle in another flash of light.

"See ya, Joey—hope we meet again."

"Bye, Joey, nice meeting you," said Lyra, waving good-bye as he left the park.

I looked up at the sky, and I noticed that the sun was starting to set.

"Oh crud, we need to get going, Lyra. Is Nile awake yet?"

"Sorry, no, he's still out cold. He's in my bag, sleeping away. Man, Merlin has a nasty Hypnosis." She giggled. "Hmmm, if only Merlin knew how to use Confusion properly. I guess that explains why he couldn't hurt us with the mind tricks," she pondered.

"I guess so. We'll have to work on that, I guess, but now we have to go," I said as we left in a hurry.

We headed up the road towards Violet City, and we made some good progress down the road, even passing by Mr. Pokémon's house. But after we were about ten minutes past his house, it quickly started getting dark, and I saw Lyra was starting to get nervous.

"Um . . . Gold . . . what if something attacks us? I mean, Nile is out cold, and Marill can't fight," she uttered with a slightly scared face.

"I don't know. Keep trying to wake Nile if you can, but for now just stay close and try not to draw attention. Trust me, we'll be fine—I won't let anything happen," I said comfortingly.

"Okay, I'll keep trying. Come on, Nile, wake up," she said, lightly nudging Nile in her bag.

The sky grew darker and darker, as did the eeriness of the atmosphere. We could hear the sounds of nocturnal Pokémon moving around in the nearby woods. After a bit of walking, I noticed a slight humming in the distance. It was faint, and I could barely hear it, but it was there.

"Lyra, be quiet for a sec—I think I hear something," I warned, holding up my hand to signal her to stop.

"Oh God, what is it?" she worried, getting tenser and stepping closer to me.

"I don't know—it's like a low humming."

I listened closely, and I could hear the humming steadily growing louder and louder. Eventually, I could hear individual bird calls, and it was coming closer.

"Oh no!" Lyra gasped, dread in her voice. "It sounds like a swarm of Spearow—Gold, we need to go now!" she yelled, picking up her Marill in her arms.

At the end of the road, behind us, a swarm of Spearow came over the horizon and was heading straight for us.

"Shit—run!" I shouted, grabbing Lyra's arm and taking off with her.

We ran our way down the winding the road as the droning calls of fifty or so Spearow echoed behind us. We dared not look back as the sound of their incessant chirping came closer and closer, and we couldn't stop for anything.

We kept running and running, hoping to see Violet City around the next bend, but the road kept on going, never ending. Still, closer and closer the drowning sound of the Spearow came. We ran faster and faster, but still closer they came.

Then, as we came round the next bend, Lyra failed to notice a root sprouting from the side of the road. Lyra's foot got caught and she fell forward.

"Gold!" she screamed as she fell and turned to see the Spearow closing in on her.

"Help me!" she cried.

"Lyra, hang on!" I yelled as I dug my heels into the ground as hard as I could to turn around. I kicked off and sprinted to her.

As I turned to face the Spearow, I saw how massive their swarm was, and they were closing in fast. I skidded along the ground to stop myself over Lyra and grabbed her in my arms. Without a second thought, I kicked off into a full sprint and ran down the road with Lyra cradled in my arms. I could see Spearow on both sides of me now. They had caught up to me, and I couldn't run any faster. I felt a jab at my leg as a Spearow attacked me. I cringed at the sharp pain in my leg. Then I felt another strike my back as I kept on running as hard as I could, trying to ignore the Spearows' attacks.

I had to get Lyra out of here—who knows, her ankle may be twisted, or worse. Lyra was clinging tightly to me as we ran, but more and more Spearow were attacking me. My legs were giving out, and Violet City was nowhere in sight.

Strike after strike hit me, and, eventually, I tripped on a rock in the road. As I fell down, I turned my body around to keep Lyra from hitting the ground and landed straight on my back. I cringed in pain. The Spearow began to circle us now, and one tried to dive in towards Lyra. In quick response, I rolled to the side to shield her from the bird of prey.

"Gold, no!" Lyra screamed as the Spearow pecked away at my back.

I pulled her close to keep her safe, but the Spearow wouldn't let up: They kept pecking and pecking away at me. One after the other, they continued to strike me, and they wouldn't stop. I felt like there was no hope of escaping. Then, I heard a voice.

"Pidgeotto, quickly, use Gust!" the voice of someone yelled, followed by the call of an unfamiliar Pokémon that echoed over the Spearows' chirping.

I looked up and saw a large bird-like Pokémon with a reddish crest of feathers fly in, fighting off the Spearow. I looked to the side and saw a young man in blue robes with blue hair running towards me.

"You two, come with me—we have to get out of here now!" he commanded.

I got up without a second thought, still holding Lyra in my arms, and ran as fast as I could towards the man in blue.

"Who are you?" I yelled.

"Not important right now—let's just get you out of here!" he said in a stern voice.

And with that, I ran down the road alongside the man. With his Pidgeotto fending off the Spearow, we eventually made it to Violet City, and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

The young man who saved us walked up to me and said, "I'm glad I was taking a stroll tonight, or else I think those Spearow would have done much worse. Look, you two need to head to the local hotel and get some rest, okay?" he instructed, breathing heavily.

"Thank you so much, um . . . I'm sorry, I don't know your name," I said, breathing heavily as well.

"Falkner, my name is Falkner. I'm the Gym Leader here. Now then, I'm sorry, but I have to leave you two. The hotel is just down the road and to the left—you can't miss it. Get some rest—you need it."

He then waved his hand and turned around, walking off.

I stood there for a few moments, processing what just happened, and then I felt a tug on my sweatshirt and I looked down at Lyra.

"Um, Gold," she said in a very quiet voice.

"Yeah?" I replied, staring into her eyes.

"You think you can put me down now? 'Cause, um, my leg isn't twisted or anything, so, um, I can walk just fine," she uttered, looking up at me.

I paused for moment, and my face started blushing as I quickly let her down.

"Oh, I, uh, um, I'm sorry," I uttered frantically, trying to recover from that awkward moment. "I guess I just, well, forgot that I was holding you," I said awkwardly.

Which in reality was quite true—she felt so light in my arms that I barely noticed her weight.

"It's okay, Gold, you don't have to apologize. And, um, thank you for saving me," she said timidly. "I thought I was a goner, and then you came back to get me. Thank you."

I paused for second, and then said, "No problem . . . that's what friends do—we help each other."

"You're right. We should probably never tell this to our parents, or else I think they'll hunt use down and drag us back home." She giggled. "Come on, I bet you need to rest at the hotel," she said, grabbing my sweatshirt and pulling me down the road towards the hotel.

We checked in at the hotel and got the only room they had available at the moment, which had only one bed. When we walked in, I said, "I'll sleep on the couch—you can have the bed."

"Look at you—you need the bed more than I do. Come on, I'll feel terrible if you sleep on the couch," she retaliated.

"Look, I'm fine, trust me—you can have the bed. Here—I'll make you," I said as I picked her up by the waist and carried her to the bed.

"Hey, no fair, Gold! Let go of me!" she squealed as she tried to squirm free.

I then placed her on the bed and walked over to the closet to get a blanket out.

"Gold, please, you need to sleep in the bed," she insisted.

"Lyra, I'm fine—I'll sleep on the couch."

"Hmmph, fine, jerk," pouted Lyra. "Well fine then, have it your way. I need to change into my pajamas, so go outside or something," she said, getting up as she started to undo her overalls.

I stepped outside to the balcony to give her some space. When she was done, she slumped into the bed and went straight to sleep. I went to the couch and stripped down to my boxers, and then lay down. My back hurt from all the bruises, and it was almost impossible to get comfortable. My thoughts drifted as I thought about how quickly I reacted to save Lyra. I was so concerned for her safety I didn't care what happened to me. And about this Falkner character, if he hadn't shown up, I dared not to think about what may have happen to us, to Lyra. Tomorrow, we had a lot to do.


	5. Chapter 5: Faith and Trust

Chapter 5: Faith and Trust

I was awoken by an aching pain in my back; it made me cringe as I sat up.

"Oh God, my back," I groaned quietly.

When the pain ceased, I reached back to feel the welts on my back. They stung when I touched them, which made me jerk my hand away. I looked around the room and saw that Lyra was sound asleep in the bed, Marill was passed out in the corner, and Nile was lying on top of my bag next to the couch. I shifted off of the couch quietly and made my way to the bathroom to look at my back in the mirror. I pulled off my undershirt and turned to the side, seeing ten to fifteen bruises scattered across my back and on my legs. If Lyra were to see this, she would feel terrible. I put my undershirt back on and went back out into the room to grab my clothes to get dressed. I noticed Nile was awoken by the commotion when he walked up to me, motioning that he was hungry while rubbing his eyes.

"All right, all right, gimme a sec and we'll get you some food," I whispered, hoping not to wake Lyra.

I grabbed my bag and left the room with Nile, careful to shut the door quietly. I went to the lobby and looked for a local map in one of those brochure stands you find in hotels. I picked up a map out from the rows upon rows of flyers and found out where the local Pokémon Center was, so I could get Merlin healed up.

With the sun out, it was easier to see the city's full colors as I stepped outside the hotel. The city's streets were made of smooth stone tiles, and many of the street lights were oriental gas lanterns. To the north I could see a tall, pagoda-looking building. Many of the other buildings in the town were also oriental in design to complement the tower, topped off with purple roofing, hence the name Violet City. Once I reached the Center, I dropped Merlin's Poké Ball off, and while I waited for the nurses to do their magic, I decided to find some breakfast for Lyra and myself.

Before I left the Center in search of food, I overheard a conversation between two Trainers. They were talking about some sort of "Sprout Tower", and its challenging trials for Trainers and their Pokémon. I guessed they were talking about the tall tower I saw earlier; perhaps I'll go there today to see what this Sprout Tower is like. After seeing what this Falkner guy could do last night, I would need to be much stronger before I challenged him for his Badge. And this Sprout Tower sounded like the perfect place to train.

I found a local supermarket and picked up two bowls of ramen noodles made with shrimp and crab meat mixed in—Lyra's favorite. After I paid for the noodles, I went back to the Pokémon Center to pick up Merlin. I thanked the nurses for their hard work, and before I left I asked them if there were any Pokémon Contests being held nearby, remembering that Lyra needed to know where they were.

"Yes, there are, actually—the next one will be held two days from now. If you're interested, just fill out these forms and bring them back here," said the nurse as she handed me a pamphlet.

I looked over the pamphlet briefly. It went on about what Contests were available and how to enter them. I had no idea what all of it meant, but I was sure Lyra could make sense of it.

"Thanks for your help," I said, thanking the nurse as I left the Center and went back to the hotel.

After taking the elevator up and reaching our room, I found Lyra sitting on the couch, channel-surfing with Marill curled up next to her. She turned her head, noticing I was back, and gave me a smile.

"Gold, you're back! Did you bring breakfast?" She then sniffed the air. "No way, is that ramen?" she asked excitedly.

"It's your favorite: shrimp and crab meat," I confirmed as I handed her a bowl and chopsticks.

We sat at the table, and I showed her the forms I got her as we talked about what today's plan was.

"So this "Sprout Tower"—what do you think their trials are like?" She slurped, eating some noodles.

"I'm not sure what they are, that's why I want to go there to find out."

"Well . . . I'm going to have to stay behind for that, unfortunately. I need to work on a good routine with Marill if I'm going to compete in that Contest in two days, isn't that right?" She motioned to Marill, who was munching on an apple and nodding.

"Well, I'm finished, so I'm going to get going. I'll be back as soon as I'm done," I said as I got up; but I felt a sharp pain in my back and cringed, arching my back.

"Gold, are you okay?" she exclaimed, alarmed.

"I'm fine, Lyra, don't worry," I replied, rubbing my back.

"Are you sure? Maybe I should just take a look."

"Trust me, I'm fine," I said, trying to get her to stop. If she saw my back now she would flip out on me, so I lied, "It's nothing to worry about—it was just something caught in my shirt that jabbed me."

"Um, okay, if you say so," she mumbled, not sure if I was telling the truth as she leaned back into her chair. "Just make sure you don't try anything crazy while you're out there, okay?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," I said as I headed for the door, motioning for Nile to follow.

I could see as I left that Lyra still looked concerned about me. I smiled back at her, trying to get her to relax as I shut the door. Once out of the hotel, I made my way across town, admiring the scenery and architecture. On my way northward, towards the tower, I came across a lake at the end of town with an island in the middle. There was an ornamental bridge that spanned the lake to the island and continued to the other end of the lake, where it led to the pagoda that was Sprout Tower. I stood there for a moment, taking in the beauty of nature and architecture in perfect harmony, as a breeze carried several flower petals aloft across the lake. I walked across the bridge in awe of the beauty of what lay before me. I approached the entrance, which appeared to be guarded by two large Bellsprout statues. I noticed a man in monk attire sitting in a meditation pose near the entrance.

"Welcome to Sprout Tower, traveler, where Pokémon and Trainers alike learn to work together in harmony and grow closer to one another. Are you here to attempt the trials?" the monk greeted kindly with a welcoming voice.

"Yes, I am, but what are the trials?" I asked.

"There are three trials you must complete here. One of Trust, one of Faith, and a third, final challenge. Complete these first two and the final trial will await you at the top of the tower."

"Faith and Trust?" I questioned, confused by what he said. "Aren't those two things the same? 'Cause if I have faith in something, doesn't that mean I trust it, too?"

"True, these virtues do coincide with each other; but one deals with what is tangible, the other with the invisible. But you will learn that in due time. So, do you wish to enter?"

I stood there, trying to analyze what I was just told. I wasn't sure about the whole invisible and tangible thing, but I answered with confidence, "I'm ready for anything you can throw at me."

"I like your attitude—I can see you're willing to face these trials with great determination, and I like that. You may enter and face the trial of Trust." He motioned towards the door.

"Thank you," I said as I walked into the building.

The interior was wide and open and was set up much like a dojo, with tons of candles that ran along the edges of the room, creating a dim orange glow across the chamber. At the other end of the room was another man in robes, standing at the ready.

"Welcome to the Trial of Trust—please present your Pokémon so I may see who is in need of gaining trust."

I motioned to Nile to go forward, and I tossed Merlin's Poké Ball, releasing the owl Pokémon to stand next to Nile. Nile was eager to fight and was showing off like a muscle builder, while Merlin, on the other hand, was asleep, standing on one leg. I called to Merlin to wake him up, and he lazily opened his eyes and yawned. The monk walked up to look closely at them both with his hand on his chin.

"Your Totodile is the one best fitting for this test—call back your Hoothoot and we will begin," said the monk as he turned back to his side of the room.

"Um, okay, Merlin, come over here, and you can keep napping," I said as Merlin flew over and landed next to me, where he promptly dozed back to sleep.

"Go, Bellsprout," called out the monk as he let loose a Poké Ball, unleashing a scrawny flower-like Pokémon with roots for a body. "This is the Trial of Trust. In order to pass this trial, all you have to do is land a single blow on my Pokémon. But you may not use ranged attacks. In order to make it easier, Bellsprout here will not move. Bellsprout, use Ingrain," he ordered, waving his arm to issue his command.

The Bellsprout assumed a stance like that of a martial artist and then inhaled deeply as its roots began to fuse to the wooden floorboards.

"What, that's it?" I replied, smirking.

"Yep, just one hit on my Bellsprout, nothing else. It's as straightforward as it could possibly be," he replied, smiling while crossing his arms together.

"In that case, Nile—go and use Scratch!" I ordered, pointing towards the Bellsprout.

Nile darted towards the Bellsprout with his intense speed.

"Use Vine Whip!" commanded the monk.

The Bellsprout then let loose a vine with incredible speed that swept horizontally across the room and smacked Nile across the face, sending him straight to the ground. The vine then shot back to the Bellsprout like a tape measure being rolled back up. Nile, dazed by the sudden impact of the vine, dizzily got back up, trying to shake it off. Before he was steady, another vine shot forth in a straight line, socking Nile in the gut, throwing him back off his feet.

"Nile! You okay?" I yelled as I watched Nile fall back, "Get back up and let's try again. His attacks may be fast, but now you know what he can do!"

Nile shot up to his feet and was back into the fray, this time dashing back and forth in order to avoid the vines. The Bellsprout lashed out a barrage of vines towards Nile, which he dodged narrowly, shifting side to side.

"Yeah, Nile, keep going!"

"Stop him, Bellsprout."

The Bellsprout shot forth more vines towards his foe; Nile dodged them and was closing in. But as Nile drew closer, I noticed what the Bellsprout was doing. There were vines on both sides of Nile, funneling him into a narrow passage with no room to dodge. He had been trapped.

"Nile, stop, he's about to—!" But before I could finish, the Bellsprout whipped a vine horizontally across the top of the vines that trapped Nile and nailed him in the face, while a second one swept across the underside of the vines from the opposite direction, taking out his legs, causing him to topple over himself. As the vines violently retracted back into the Bellsprout, it then bundled them into a single tendril and lashed it at Nile, and, once again, sent him flying back.

"Nile, are you okay? Can you get up?" I said frantically, knowing those vines were taking their toll on Nile because of his Water-type.

Damn, what do I do? I questioned to myself. Nile may be fast, but there's no way he can get past that vine defense grid.

"Nile, hang on for a little longer—I need to think of something. Just stay out of his reach for now."

Nile, getting up, nodded his head and stayed far from the flower Pokémon, who continued his Vine Whip onslaught.

"You better hurry—your Water-type won't be able to take another one of my Bellsprout's Vine Whips before he falls," the monk taunted with a smirk on his face.

"Arrgh, oh, come on, think," I said in frustration.

There had to be a way to get past those vines, but how? Dodging them didn't help—all that does is form walls, causing Nile to be unable to escape, and charging in headstrong will end with Nile getting socked across the face. If only the vines weren't so fast.

"Wait a sec . . . that's it!" I proclaimed.

Every time a vine was fired off, it would never change direction, and it would only follow the path it was originally sent on. And it always returned back to the user like an outstretched rubber band being snapped back. Meaning the Bellsprout couldn't control the vines once they were lashed out, and they had to return back to the Bellsprout. Which means those vines can be used as Nile's one-way ticket to the center!

"Nile, bite the vine!" I yelled.

Nile looked back at me like I was crazy as he tried to avoid the incoming barrage of vines.

"Nile, there's no time to explain—just do it!"

Nile then rolled his eyes at me and continued to dodge the vines as best he could.

"Nile, I know it doesn't make sense, but you have to! It's the only way—you have to trust me like you did before. I promise this will work! Just do it!"

Nile looked back at me for a moment. After a few seconds, he nodded his head and turned to face the Bellsprout, who returned his gaze with a volley of vines. One was heading straight for Nile's face, but he stood there, not budging, as it closed in with intense speed. Then, at the last second, Nile sidestepped and clamped his jaws on the vine.

"Now, Nile, don't let go—once you get close, use Scratch!" I yelled, pointing my hand at the Bellsprout.

The vines began to retract, and, like a fish being reeled in, Nile went flying towards the Bellsprout. Nile quickly put the pieces together and saw what he had to do. He locked his eyes on the target and reared his arm back, ready to deliver the final blow. As he closed in, the Bellsprout panicked, realizing that it couldn't stop the incoming blue reptile. At the final moment, Nile threw his fist toward the Bellsprout with a mighty roar. Impact!

Nile drove his fistful force into the Bellsprout's face with enough strength to uproot the Pokémon from the wooden floor it was fused to. Nile and the Bellsprout toppled over each other and rolled across the room. When they stopped, Nile got back up and threw his hands into the air, roaring in victory before he fell back to the ground in an exhausted heap.

"Yeah, Nile, you did it!" I cheered triumphantly before I ran up to Nile to congratulate him and give him some medicine from my bag. "Thanks for trusting me, Nile—you did a good job," I said as I held him in my arms, and Nile gave me a smirk before I returned him to his Poké Ball.

"You did an excellent job—few have ever found the weakness in my Bellspout's Vine Whip. You were able to find the solution to the problem at hand, and you proved that your Pokémon trusts in your judgment as the Trainer. You have passed the Trial of Trust," the monk said as he walked back and pulled down a ladder to next floor. "Proceed to the next floor—your Hoothoot will participate in the Trial of Faith," he instructed as he motioned for me to proceed.

I climbed my way up to the next floor with Merlin perched on my shoulder. As I poked my head into the next floor, I could see that it mirrored the floor below with the candles and everything around the corners. At the other end of the room stood another monk, in blue robes, who was standing at attention, waiting for me.

"Welcome to the second floor—this is the Trial of Faith. I hope your faith in your Pokémon is strong, for this time, your opponent will be different from your average Bellsprout," he said as he pulled out a Poké Ball and threw it into the air. In a bright flash, it released a cloud of purple mist that formed a creepy face and eyeballs.

Merlin's composure changed drastically in the presence of the ghost Pokémon. He was wide awake and staring intensely at the Ghastly. The look in his eye was that of hate, like that of a mighty knight scolding the very sight of evil.

"Merlin, what's with you?" I asked, concerned for my feathered friend.

But Merlin didn't respond to me—he just kept staring at the ghost with an intense grimace.

"It would seem your Hoothoot has a distaste for ghosts," said the monk. "That will certainly make this fight more interesting. Now, then, this trial's rules are similar to your last one: All you have to do is hit my Ghastly with whatever method you wish to use. But mine won't stand idly by for you to come close. So let's not waste time and begin," he declared, waving his hand to issue the challenge.

Merlin took off from my shoulder without hesitation and soared towards the Ghastly to attack. The Ghastly simply ducked under the attack and turned to mock the owl Pokémon. Merlin turned in midair and tried again to hit the ghost, but it was too fast, and it dodged the attack again.

"Merlin, calm down—we can't go charging in wildly!" I commanded, trying to get Merlin to cease his frantic attacks.

But Merlin didn't listen and chased the purple cloud back and forth across the room to no avail. Then, the Ghastly stopped in the rafters of the ceiling. It turned and stuck its tongue out at Merlin, mocking him. Merlin darted across the open space to hit the Ghastly. But at the last second the Ghastly shifted up and made Merlin crash into the rafter. My Hoothoot fell to the ground below, crashing hard into the wooden floor. The Ghastly hovered over him and laughed with a wicked cackle.

"Oh no! Merlin, are you okay?" I yelled.

But Merlin shrugged it off and looked back up at the cackling cloud of mist. He had just about had it with the mocking and kicked off from the floor into the air to retaliate.

"Merlin, wait! Listen to me!"

Merlin, refusing to listen, shot up from the floor and went soaring toward the hovering cloud of gas. The Ghastly stopped its mad cackle as it realized the Hoothoot was inbound. Merlin spiraled upward to unleash a midair spinning Tackle. But, when Merlin made contact, he passed right through the ghostly Pokémon, as if it wasn't even there, causing its purple haze to disperse. Merlin turned in midair to look at the cloud of purple gas with anger in his eyes as the purple cloud reformed in front of him and began to cackle once again.

"Wait, what just happened? Why didn't that work?"

"Now you see the true nature of Ghost-type Pokémon," remarked the monk.

"What do you mean?" I asked, demanding an explanation.

"Unlike most Pokémon, a Ghost-type Pokémon can't be harmed by normal means. You can tackle my Ghastly all you like, but you'll never be able to hurt him."

"It can't be harmed by normal means? But then how am I . . . ?"

Then it hit me—Merlin wasn't just any normal bird.

"That's it! Merlin, you have to use Confusion!"

Merlin looked back, for the first time acknowledging me. His composure seemed to relax a bit, as if he began to understand that this blind rage of his was pointless. Merlin then nodded his head and closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. When he opened his eyes, they glowed bright white, and he stared straight at the one that mocked his feeble attempts. But the Ghastly still lingered there, unfazed. Merlin's eyes ceased to glow, and he tried to use confusion again, but nothing happened once more. The Ghastly began to cackle once again. Merlin's eyes dimmed as his composure grew more furious. Over and over again, Merlin tried to unleash his psychic potential, but continued to fail each time with the Ghastly's mocking laughter only growing louder.

"Unfortunately, it would seem your Hoothoot is unable to perform such a high-level attack—you must realize you're asking too much of your Pokémon?" said the monk in a dissatisfied tone. "Besides, this has dragged on for too long now. Ghastly, use Hypnosis, and let's wrap this up."

The Ghastly nodded towards the monk, and its eyes glowed bright as a wave of spiraling distorted light was launched towards Merlin.

"Merlin, quickly—dodge it!" I ordered.

But Merlin never budged, and the convulsing wave of light just pattered off him as he stood there, unfazed, staring back at the ghost with determination. The Ghastly looked confused and sent another wave of spiraling light towards his opponent, but it just dissipated off of Merlin again. No matter how hard the Ghastly tried, Merlin refused to be put to sleep like some sort of insomniac. I stood there in awe as each wave of light continued to seemingly do nothing to Merlin.

"Merlin, I don't know how you're doing this, but now's our chance. Use Hypnosis and show him what you can do—I believe in you."

Merlin's eyes glowed once more, and then he sent out his own waves of distorted light towards the Ghastly. They collided with those of his attacker and created cascading waves of distorted light as both Pokémon struggled to keep their focus on the attack. The distorted lights danced back and forth as both Pokémon fought for dominion over the other's mind.

"Merlin, don't give in! Show that ghost what you're made of!" I called, trying to keep Merlin focused.

But the distorted light was edging closer and closer to Merlin—the Ghastly was winning this game of the mind. Merlin was beginning to look fatigued and was struggling to stand on the beam on which he perched. He wasn't going to last much longer, and the Ghastly knew it, too, as it grinned. I had to do something, or else Merlin was going to lose this battle of the minds.

"Merlin, I don't know why you were so intent on fighting this Ghastly, but whatever that reason is, you're about to fail at what you set out to achieve. Are you going to let that happen?!" I proclaimed desperately, trying to get Merlin to stay up.

Merlin looked back at me with his tired eyes. He stared at me for moment, then he nodded as he turned back to face the Ghastly. He shook his head as he got back on his feet and caused the convulsing lights to distort more strongly on his end; the center of the distorted light began to crawl back towards the Ghastly. The smirk on the Ghastly's face was wiped away as it began to struggle to maintain its control, but the distorted light came closer and closer to the ghost. But before it reached him, the spiraling light stopped dead in its tracks, just in front of the ghostly cloud. Merlin wouldn't stand for this, and he unfurled his wings as his eyes glowed even brighter and sent forth the final push as the spiraling light crashed into the hazy cloud.

The Ghastly, having lost the struggle, began to sway back and forth, trying to stay in the air, but then plummeted towards the floor.

"Merlin, you did it! I knew you could!"

Merlin stood there on the support beam, breathing heavily from the ordeal. He then looked at me and tilted his head as show of victory. He then flew back to me and perched himself on my shoulder.

"Incredible, simply incredible—I haven't seen anything like that in quite a while. Your Hoothoot is very strong, and, thanks to your faith in him, he was able to complete this trial. You're nothing like the young lad who came before you today—he simply used aggression to overcome these trials," the monk applauded my efforts.

"Wait, someone else was here today? Who?" I asked, thinking I was the only one besides the monks here.

"Yes, a young lad like you. We get a lot of visits from young Trainers, so don't think it's uncommon. He is currently upstairs right now facing our master in the final trial. I personally don't approve of his training methods, but he completed the trials, so I couldn't deny him passage. I think our master should be wrapping up; you should head up there," he said as he motioned towards a ladder near him. "It's a long way up, so be careful, and good luck."

I returned Merlin to his ball as I walked up to the ladder and started to ascend the rungs. The ladder kept on going for at least 3 stories, and as I drew closer I could hear a commotion coming from the top, as well as an occasional bright flash that shone through the floorboards of the top floor. Whatever was happening up there must've been intense. I wondered who the other Trainer could be; he sounded tough. As I came up to the top, I stepped up into a small room that was cut off from the rest of the floor. There was door in front of me, and, as I reached to open it, I heard a voice on the other side.

"All right, old man, I beat each and every one of your asinine trials, so where is my reward? Come on—I haven't got all day."

That voice. It couldn't be. It can't be. No, it was him, there was no doubt—it was Silver.

My heart sank as I remembered my last encounter with him. Damn it, why here, why now? I opened the door slowly and looked in. I saw him standing there with a Cyndaquil in front of him and an old monk in decorated robes across from him.

"I admit it, you're definitely strong, and, by the rules of this tower, I must reward you. But the way you treat your Pokémon is inexcusable," declared the old man as he reluctantly held out a bag of money.

"Give me that," sneered Silver as he snatched the bag from the man. "And what the hell do you know, old man? All I care about is strong Pokémon and those who can win. I have no time for your stupid caring and shit," he growled with a grimace on his face.

Silver then turned around, and he caught a glance of me behind the door. I quickly stepped backwards, but I clumsily stumbled and fell. He looked at me with indifference, putting his hands in his pockets.

"It's you again. You're that punk that got in my way at Cherrygrove—why the hell are you here?" he hissed as he made his way towards the door, staring me down with his hate-filled silver eyes. "Pfft, don't worry—I'm not interested in weak bastards like you. So why don't you stay there on the ground, where you belong, and stay the hell out of my way?"

He then walked past me and made his way down the ladder. I felt so pathetic knowing that just the guy looking at me was enough to make me to cower like a fool. I tried to gather my shattered pride and get back up, trying to forget what just happened to focus on whatever challenge was ahead.

I walked into the final room and noticed that, unlike a dojo, it was built more like a room of peace and meditation. Rather than candles, the room was open with large windows all around. There was a bridge from the room I was in that lead to a central raised wooden platform, roughly twenty yards wide and twenty long. Surrounding the platform were Zen gardens with bonsai trees and koi ponds. The room was beautiful, and I could hardly believe a fight had taken place here. At the end of the platform stood two Bellsprout statues, and the old man standing in-between them.

He looked up at me and asked, "Do you know him?", clearly seeing what had just happened.

"I wish I didn't, but yes. It's a long story," I replied regretfully.

"Spare me the details; if you wish not to know him, then you're better off," he said, holding up his hand to signify that he wished not to hear. "He treats his Pokémon without love, and he is arrogant in his beliefs. But you're not here to hear me lecture—I figure that you wish to face me for your final challenge?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Um, yes, I'm ready for any fancy test you got. All I need to do is hit your Pokémon once, just like before, right?" I asked, getting myself pumped with Nile's ball in hand.

"Oh, this isn't any 'fancy' trial like before. This is a fight like any other. Now, present your Pokémon and show me what made you worthy of coming this far," he commanded as he let loose a Poké Ball that revealed a Bellsprout.

"Oh, is that so? Well then perfect—this is my kind of fight. Go Nile!" I exclaimed as I tossed his Poké Ball.

Nile, having rested from his last fight, was ready for action, and growled in anticipation as he set his eyes on his opponent.

"Let us begin—Bellsprout, use Vine Whip," issued the old man as the flower Pokémon lashed a vine towards Nile.

"Nile, you know what to do."

Nile nodded and dodged the vine, then bit hard into it. As the vine retracted, the old man declared, "Nice try, but that won't work this time. Bellsprout, use Vine Whip again."

Using its other arm, the sprout Pokémon lashed out a vine that slashed at Nile, knocking him off the vine he was latched onto. He hit the wooden floor hard and tumbled.

"Nile!"

But he was back on his feet in no time and ready to keep going. In response, the sprout lashed out more vines.

"Nile, use your Water Gun and repel his vines!"

As the vines honed in, Nile shot out blasts of pressurized water to keep the vines at bay. When the vines retracted, he zoomed in to close the distance between him and the Bellsprout. Once up close to his opponent, Nile unleashed a flurry of scratches with his reptilian claws. But the Bellsprout bobbed and weaved around his attacks, like a trained martial artist. Once it found an opening, it slashed a vine across Nile's face. Nile shook it off and continued his onslaught of scratches, trying to hit the Bellsprout. Ducking under one of his attacks, the sprout rolled backwards and used a Vine Whip. Nile dodged it by sidestepping and then rushed forward to continue his barrage of clawed attacks. The Bellsprout avoided his attacks, and, in one sweeping motion, once again ducked under Nile's frenzied attacks to whip a vine at Nile's face, but it was stopped. The sprout then realized the vine was caught in Nile's jaws.

"Good job—now swing him around and launch him, Nile!" I instructed as Nile swung his powerful body around and launched the Bellsprout toward the Zen garden below. The Bellsprout crashed in a flurry of stones as it skidded along the gravel.

"Now, Nile, while he's down, finish him with a Bite!" I ordered as Nile ran to the edge of the wooden platform.

"Bellsprout, use Vine Whip—don't let him get close!" issued the old man.

As Nile jumped from the wooden platform to pounce on the Bellsprout, the flower Pokémon got up and let loose a vine. It intercepted Nile in midair and threw him off course, and he too crashed into the gravel, but tried his best to scramble to his feet, though he struggled. Nile was barely standing; those vine whips had taken their toll on him, and we had to finish this quickly.

"Nile, use Water Gun—aim for the face!" I ordered, and Nile fired his jet of water towards the sprout.

The sprout reared back as the water rushed past its face.

"Boy, don't you know that water moves won't hurt my Bellsprout?" challenged the old man with a smirk on his face.

"No, but it sure as heck kept him from being able to see," I retorted as I returned the smirk to the old man when he realized what I had done. "Now, Nile, use Bite while it's dazed and finish this!"

Nile rushed forward with jaws ready to go as the Bellsprout began to look back up. But it was too late: Nile had reached him. And before it could react, Nile had clamped his powerful jaws down on the sprout. Nile shook his head back and forth violently and launched the sprout into one of the posts that held up the wooden platform. The Bellsprout was out cold and couldn't fight anymore. Nile looked upward and growled in triumph.

"Yeah, we did it! Good job, Nile!" I cheered as I jumped down to the garden to congratulate him.

"I have to say, you are an impressive young Trainer; your Totodile truly has faith in you, and your bond is unbreakable," congratulated the old man as he walked to the edge of the wooden platform. "Here is your reward for defeating our tower's three trials—you've earned it," he said, holding out a bag of money for me to take, and I walked over to claim it.

"So, do you plan on taking on our city's Gym as well?" he asked as I took my prize.

"Yes, I do, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet," I admitted, thinking about last night.

"Nonsense—I know Falkner very well, and you are more than ready to fight him. Now go get some rest and always remember what you learned here: Faith and Trust is what will guide you on your journey," he said as he bowed to send me on my way.

I bowed back and headed for the ladder. By the time I was out of the tower it was high noon, and I called Lyra on my phone.

"Hey, Goldy, you done with your tower thing yet?" Lyra asked as she picked up the phone. "Me and Marill have finally got our routine down," she said with pride.

"Yeah, I'm done—it was tough, though. So, what Contest do you plan on entering? I think there were several categories you could enter," I said.

"We plan on entering the Cuteness Competition, and I just know Marill is going to win—I can feel it. Not only that, but I caught a new Pokémon while I was out! And she's the cutest thing ever!" she said, happy as ever.

"Really, what is it?" I asked, excited for her.

"Oh, I'm not telling you—you'll just have to come and see at the hotel. It's a surprise." She giggled.

Oh God, here we go—Lyra and her secrets. She always has to have a surprise for me.

"Fine, I'll come and see it. You and your secrets . . . anyway, I'll pick up some dinner, want anything?"

"Um . . . get me a burger and some fries, with a root beer, please. Great, I'll see you at the hotel, bye," she said as she hung up.

Putting my phone away, I made my way across the bridge towards town. I turned to see the tower one more time before I disappeared into town. Tomorrow, I face Falkner and earn my first Badge. But if I'm going to do that, I need to know more about Flying-types before I charge in headstrong. So, after I got some dinner from a local fast-food joint, I pulled out my Pokédex and looked up Flying-type Pokémon. As I scrolled through the text, I looked for the weaknesses section, found it, and read.

"Flying-type Pokémon, although immune to the effects of Ground-based moves, are susceptible to the elements of weather from the thunder that rains down in electrical storms, to the sheer cold of blizzards, to the loose rocks that are kicked up by mighty winds. Flying-type Pokémon require good flying conditions to be the most effective and can be brought down easily if any of these elements are used against them."

"Electricity, Rock, and Ice—great, I've got none of those. Uuggh, where am I going to find any of those on such short notice?" I sighed. "Whatever, I'll just have to fight Falkner without that advantage," I said gloomily.

I made my way back to the hotel and took the elevator up. When I found our room, I reached for the doorknob, but I was zapped by a static shock, and I quickly pulled my hand away.

"Ow! Jeez, I hate when that happens," I whined, shaking the stinging sensation out of my hand.

I then opened the door, and, as I walked in, I could hear that Lyra was giggling along with what sounded like little meeps over in the other room. I could only guess they were coming from this new Pokémon she caught.

"Lyra, I'm back, and I brought food," I called out as I set the bag of food on the table.

"Goldy, you're back," said Lyra as she poked her head out of the doorway to the kitchen. "Wait there, I have to show you my new Pokémon—gimme a sec," she said excitedly.

"Okay," I replied as I grabbed the chair to the table, but was shocked again by some static.

I pulled my hand away, again wondering why this would happen twice in a row, even. Before I could ponder further on the mysterious static shocks, Lyra came into the room with what looked like a small sheep cradled in her arms. Oddly enough, when she entered the room the hair on my skin started to stand up.

"Here she is—it's a Mareep. Isn't it so cute?" she squealed.

"Aww, did you give her a name?" I asked.

"Her name is Teeka, and she's so soft. Isn't that right, Teeka?" she said in her puppy-talk voice, holding the little sheep up to her face.

The Mareep meeped happily as it cuddled with her.

"I was hoping you could use your Pokédex to tell me more about her," she said as she put Teeka on the ground and sat at the table.

"Oh, sure thing—let's see what it can tell us," I said as I flipped out the Pokédex to get a scan of the Mareep.

"Mareep, the Wool Pokémon; its fluffy coat of wool rubs together and builds a static charge. The more static electricity is charged, the more brightly the light bulb at the tip of its tail glows," stated the Pokédex in its automated voice.

"Electricity?" I said, contemplating what that meant—and then it hit me.

"Wait a minute, Lyra, I think you just found me a trump card! Falkner uses Flying-types, and they're weak to electricity!" I crowed, thrilled. "Lyra, if you'll let me, I can use Teeka to get the upper hand in tomorrow's fight," I said, turning to Lyra to see what she would say.

"Really? Hhhmmm, I don't know," she said with a concerned look on her face.

"Lyra, come on, I'm serious about this. I'm going to need any advantage I can get," I pleaded.

"Oh, calm down, I'm just teasing you—of course you can! If Teeka here can help you win, then I'm all for it." She giggled. "You're so funny when you're gullible," she mocked, giving me her sly look.

I couldn't help but show an embarrassed face; I couldn't believe how easily she could mess with me. I almost thought she was serious at first about not letting me use Teeka.

"Well, um, if there are no issues, um, I guess we should eat our dinner before it gets cold," I said, trying to shift the subject as I grabbed some of the food I bought.

"Yeah, let's eat!"


	6. Chapter 6: Soar High and be Well Coordinated

Chapter 6: Soar High and be Well Coordinated

It was early in the morning, and the sun had just broken the horizon when Lyra and I stood outside the Pokémon Gym of Violet City. Unlike the rest of the buildings in the city, the one that loomed over us lacked the ornamental look. Instead, it took on a slicker, more modern design, with large glass windows dominating the structure as a whole. It was almost as tall as Sprout Tower, but, despite its height, it had only two floors, both of which appeared to be aviaries filled with grass and trees that were meant to house flying Pokémon.

"Wow, this place is huge!" exclaimed Lyra as she held her Marill in her arms, looking up at the tall building. "Come on Gold—let's go inside."

I yawned as I stretched my arms. "Jeez, did we have to get up so early? I haven't even had breakfast yet." I then yawned again before noting, "Oh, hang on a sec, Merlin's asleep again." I looked at the drowsy Hoothoot who was perched on my shoulder. "Hey. Hey, Merlin. Merlin, wake up, we're heading in," I said, snapping my fingers to wake him.

Merlin unenthusiastically opened his eyes and yawned upon being awoken. He then ruffled his feathers before he tilted his head and gave me lazy look to show his distaste in being woken up.

"Hey, don't give me that look, Merlin. I mean, it's not my fault we're up this early," I uttered, giving Lyra a sly look.

"Hey, I said I was sorry, okay?! I didn't know I needed to get a dress in order to perform in the Contest," she pouted.

Remembering the irritation I felt when Lyra brought this up the other night, my brow twitched a bit as I complained, "I still can't believe you forgot to bring a dress to wear. Seriously, I thought that bringing one was sort of a given."

"Look, don't worry. That's why we came here early, so we can avoid waiting for any other Trainers who may want to challenge Falkner and have enough time to go shopping. Plus, you have my secret weapon, Teeka. Falkner won't know what hit him."

"Yeah, you're right." I shrugged in agreement. "With Teeka on my team, I should be able to beat Falkner in no time," I boasted, holding up my fist.

"Glad to hear a little sheep can make you feel cocky." Lyra giggled.

"I am not cocky," I retorted.

"Whatever you say, Goldy boy," she replied with a devilish smile before she pulled out the town map. "Anyway, once we're done here we'll go into town and find a clothing store so we can get a dress for me. It will be quick and easy," she explained, looking at the map.

"I still don't get why you need me to help you pick out a dress." I yawned once more.

"I don't know what looks good on me, and I need a second opinion. I never liked dresses that much, to be honest," she replied, shrugging.

"Trust me, I know," I muttered under my breath, recalling the many instances back when we were ten when her mom would force her to wear a dress and she'd whine about it all day.

"Look, don't be such a sourpuss about it, all right? Besides, you'll get to see me in all sorts of pretty dresses. I think you'll have fun," she said cheerfully.

I paused for a second after she said that. I couldn't help but blush when thoughts of Lyra in different dresses raced around inside my head. I didn't know why I suddenly found the thought of Lyra in a dress so enticing, but for some reason I couldn't break my thoughts away from it.

Lyra turned when she noticed I had stopped walking and asked, "Gold, you okay? You look like you have something on your mind."

"Oh, uh, it's nothing. I just remembered something funny I heard the other day. But, uh, you wouldn't get it," I replied as a terrible excuse.

"Well, quit laughing at yourself and let's go already—I want to see you fight."

"Um yeah . . . sure . . . right behind you," I stuttered before I heard Merlin chuckling to himself.

At first I didn't know he was snickering, but then I remembered his psychic powers. I then realized that he must have been reading my mind and was laughing about my fantasies of Lyra. Embarrassed by this and slightly irritated, I turned my head to look at the owl Pokémon on my shoulder and glared.

"Oh, be quiet, you," I muttered under my breath as I followed Lyra inside.

We then entered the Gym and saw that the interior was a lot like a large-scale terrarium, with trees, grass, and everything you could find in a forest. It was almost as if someone had taken a portion of the nearby woods and put it indoors. Coupled with the modern architecture, the place gave off a very modern and elegant vibe.

"Wow, look at all the Pokémon, Gold!" Lyra exclaimed as she spun around, taking in the scenery.

She was right, too: there were all sorts of Pokémon flying around. In fact, the place was jam-packed with them. Anything from Pidgey to Spearow and even some Wingull, which I thought was pretty neat considering that Wingull aren't from Johto, adding an exotic sense to the place.

"Jeez, do all Gym Leaders have places like this?" I asked myself as I admired the aviary.

"Well, most do. Personally, I'm not a big fan of Chuck's messy old dojo, but I hear Whitney's gym is gorgeous," said a familiar voice that came from a nearby tree.

When Lyra and I turned to find who said that, we saw a young man with blue hair dressed in blue robes drop down from the nearby tree. He then quickly stood up from where he landed and brushed himself off as he looked to us.

"It's nice to see you two again; glad to see you learned not to travel at night. Your name was Gold, I think?" said Falkner as he crossed his arms.

"Actually, it's Ethan, but I prefer Gold," I explained.

"Yeah, he's kinda egotistical like that," Lyra joked.

"Hey, you're the one who gave me that nickname, Lyra."

"I know, but I'll always think of it as your silly eye color, and not your massive ego." She giggled again as she smiled at me.

It was always her and that smile—no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't help but laugh, too. I then looked over towards Falkner, who was standing patiently, waiting for our chatter to cease.

"Anyway," I said as I took on a sterner pose. "Falkner, I'm here to challenge you for your Badge, and I'm not leaving till I've won," I declared confidently.

"I figured—Master Li told me all about you. You're one of the few Trainers that have recently passed all the trials of Sprout Tower. Seeing as you came here so early, I take it that you're in a bit of a hurry, so why don't we skip the usual introductions and get started. What do you say?" Falkner asked as he gestured towards me.

"That's fine with me."

"Good." He turned and moved out towards an open patch of grass, back to me. He said, "I take it this is your first Gym battle, so I'll be as brief as possible on the League rules. Trainers are only allowed to have six Pokémon in their party. In single battles, you may only use one Pokémon at a time. You may swap your Pokémon out at any time, if you desire. Once one side runs out of Pokémon capable of fighting, the victor is then declared. But understand this: I am a Gym Leader, and I will fight at my full capacity. So, are you ready to face me, Gold?" His tone became very serious when he said that last phrase.

I paused for a moment as I remembered the other night, when the Spearow attacked us. Falkner was right—he wasn't like anything I had faced before. This man was capable of driving off a swarm of Spearow with a single Pokémon. My back still stung because of what took place that night. If I said yes to this challenge, I would be facing him unrestrained.

My thoughts were racing at this point, and I could feel doubt creeping in. All I could think of was the helplessness I felt when the Spearow attacked. A Gym Leader was serious business. Merlin, Nile, and even Teeka could be seriously hurt if I screwed up. Falkner's face grew sterner as he waited for my response. It was obvious that my face was betraying my feelings of doubt.

"Is there something wrong? You came here to fight me, did you not? Don't tell me you doubt yourself now?" he inquired, cocking his eyebrow and crossing his arms, anticipating my response.

I felt like I was in over my head. Even with Lyra's Mareep, I wasn't sure it would be enough to win this. I couldn't fight him, not now; but before I could mouth the words to give up, Lyra interjected.

"What are you going on about? Gold can take you on any day—just watch him!" she exclaimed, stepping forward with a fire in her eyes. "Come on, Gold, prove me right! I know you can win!" she encouraged, turning to me with a smirk.

After hearing what she said, I paused for a second.

She really thinks I can win? I thought to myself before I quickly came to my senses.

"Yeah, you're right. I came all this way to win, and I'm not going to back down now," I said as I stepped forward, turning my hat. "Falkner, I challenge you for your Badge! Merlin, you're up, now let's go! . . . Merlin? . . . Oh God, don't tell me," I grumbled, looking towards my shoulder.

"ZZZZZZZZ."

"Merlin!"

Seeing my less-than-extraordinary display of confidence, Lyra burst into laughter, and she fell to the ground, rolling in hysteria. Merlin then lazily opened his eyes and looked at me like he was clueless as to what the fuss was about.

I sighed. "Seriously, man?"

Merlin just shrugged like he was sorry, but wasn't really that sincere.

"I'm sorry I laughed—I couldn't help myself," Lyra apologized as she stood back up from laughing.

"Well, now that you and your friend have calmed down, I think it's time that we started," said Falkner as he brought up his fingers to his lips and whistled, calling out, "Pidgey, you're up first!"

From one of the trees that stood behind Falkner, a Pidgey instantly flew over to him and took its place on the battlefield. This bird Pokémon was a bit larger than most of the wild Pidgey I've seen. Before long, Merlin realized that it was time to fight, took off from my shoulder, and landed in front of me, tilting his head towards the opponent.

"Begin!" Falkner declared as he motioned his hand to signal the start of the fight.

Falkner's Pidgey shot up into the air without hesitation while Merlin stayed where he was in order to gauge what his opponent would do. This Pidgey was fast, faster than any Pidgey I've seen in the wild, but that was to be assumed when fighting a Gym Leader's Pokémon, and I expected nothing less. From what I could tell, this Pidgey had speed, and the attack power to back it up. But, if my hunch was right, it wasn't very durable. Merlin is not a dog-fighter, but he is hardy and can take a hit quite well. If I wanted to beat this Pidgey, I was going to need to hinder its performance, and Hypnosis was perfect for the job.

"Merlin, get ready to do your thing! Here he comes!" I called to Merlin as the Pidgey dove towards him.

Merlin, with his sight set on the Pidgey, began to concentrate while his eyes glowed, preparing to use Hypnosis.

"Use Sand Attack!" Falkner ordered, and the Pidgey unfurled its wings, slowing itself down to almost a halt as it closed in on Merlin.

The Pidgey then brewed up a gust of wind with its wings, picking up tons of loose dirt on the ground that flew into Merlin's face. Merlin's concentration was then shattered, and he had to look away and shake his head, attempting to remove the dirt off his face. As my Hoothoot slowly regained his ability to see, the Pidgey struck him from behind, knocking him to the ground. Flying back up into the air after its attack, the Pidgey continued to circle Merlin.

"Merlin, get back up and use Hypnosis!"

Merlin tried to stand up and use his psychic powers, but the Pidgey banked sharply and zoomed past him, kicking up more dirt and loose grass in its wake. Incapable of seeing, Merlin hobbled around aimlessly, trying to regain his sense of direction. As he struggled to restore his vision, Merlin was struck once more by the lightning-fast bird.

Merlin was in trouble. He needs to get airborne and away from those Sand Attacks! I thought to myself while I readied to issue my orders.

"Merlin, fly up and use Foresight to track him!" I instructed as I motioned my hand.

Merlin, wiping away the dirt with his wings, flew up into the air. Once airborne, Merlin's ever-watchful eyes kept his sights on the Pidgey circling around him and began to glow red. I figured Merlin would be able to track his foe better with Foresight, so that he may better use his Hypnosis attack.

"Pidgey, use Quick Attack!" Falkner ordered.

The Pidgey turned sharply in the air and spiraled towards Merlin, who by psychically tracking the Pidgey was able to dive under the incoming attack. Merlin then tried to counter by tackling his foe, but the bird was too swift for him. The Pidgey, seeing an opportunity, quickly came back around for another Quick Attack. After striking Merlin, it tried to fly off, but was stopped short when it noticed that Merlin had caught its leg with his talons.

"Good job, Merlin—now use Peck!" I called out, seeing the opportunity for Merlin to finally do some damage.

Merlin, dragging the Pidgey out of the air towards him, unleashed a barrage of jabbing pecks.

"Pidgey, dive out of there!" said Falkner, motioning his command.

The Pidgey, with its back towards the ground, unfurled its wings and unleashed a powerful torrent of wind straight up. Try as he might, Merlin could not help but be dragged down with the Pidgey. Before the two hit the grass below, the Pidgey whipped its body around and sent Merlin straight towards the ground. Merlin tried to regain flight, but was struck again by the Pidgey, who had dived downward into Merlin to make sure that he continued to fall.

Merlin crashed to the ground with a sudden thud, causing Lyra to gasp as I called out to him, "Merlin, you okay!?"

To my dismay, Merlin was knocked out and couldn't fight anymore.

This was bad—I needed Merlin to last longer so Nile could fight Falkner's Pidgeotto in his best condition. I should have known better; Merlin wasn't a good matchup against physical attackers, and now I was down a Pokémon. I wanted to send in Teeka to finish off the Pidgey. But I couldn't, or else I would reveal my secret weapon before I needed it. It looked like Nile would just have to work overtime for this fight.

"Merlin, you did well—now return," I said, returning Merlin to his Poké Ball. "Nile, you're up—let's go!" I added, tossing Nile's Poké Ball.

In a brilliant flash of light, Nile burst forth, ready to fight as he landed on the ground and growled his challenge towards the airborne Pidgey.

"So this is the Totodile that Li warned me about, huh? Pidgey, head for the trees and use them as cover—go!" Falkner ordered as he indicated with his hand where the Pidgey should go.

As the Pidgey flew towards a patch of trees inside the aviary, Nile darted in after it. I ran over to the tree line in order to keep Nile in my sights. Once inside the pasture, Nile looked up towards the canopy, searching for his foe.

"Nile, stay on your guard!" I warned Nile, knowing that the bird could swoop down from above at any time.

Then suddenly, just as I said that, the Pidgey burst from its hiding spot among the trees and darted towards Nile with intense speed. But, unlike Merlin, Nile had better reflexes where he lacked supernatural powers. Thus my Totodile reacted swiftly and sidestepped out of the Pidgey's way, driving his elbow into the bird's back with one swift motion. As a result, the Pidgey toppled over itself, and it crashed into the ground.

"Impressive—your Totodile has great reflexes," Falkner said as he admired Nile's attack.

"Oh, he's just getting started. Nile use Water Gun!" I instructed Nile.

Nile took a deep breath and then unleashed a column of pressurized water towards the Pidgey. The bird tried to avoid the attack, but was caught by the torrent of water and flung against a tree. I was right in my judgment of Falkner's Pidgey not being very durable, for it was knocked out cold with one shot. Seeing this, Nile roared triumphantly at his quick victory.

"Yeah, you go, Nile!" Lyra cheered from the sidelines.

The energy in the room was climbing as Falkner and I were both down one Pokémon. But now was not the time to celebrate my small victory. Falkner, from what I heard, only uses two Pokémon, and his Pidgeotto was next.

I sure hope Nile is ready for this, I thought to myself.

Falkner, returning his Pidgey to its Poké Ball, turned to me and said, "You're much better than what Li made you out to be, but I hope your team is ready to face my final Pokémon!"

Falkner held up his hand and whistled.

In response to its Trainer's call, the Pidgeotto that saved Lyra and me the other night flew over from a nearby tree and landed near Falkner. This bird was big, roughly three feet tall, and had a wingspan of five-or-so feet.

"You remember Pidgeotto, don't you?" Falkner remarked as he kneeled down and stroked his Pokémon's red-feathered crest.

How could I forget? Just looking at the Pidgeotto made the pain in my back flare as it brought back memories of the other night. This Pidgeotto was Falkner's ace in the hole, and Nile would have to be on his A-game to fight it.

"Nile, this is it! We've worked hard for this—now let's show him what we're made of. Go, and use Bite!" I yelled as I pointed my hand towards Nile's adversary.

"Pidgeotto, use Gust, quickly!" Falkner retaliated as he motioned his hand, setting the bird of prey loose into the fray.

Nile was charging in with teeth bared as the raptor flew low towards him with immense speed. Suddenly, the Pidgeotto unfurled its wings, stopping in mid-flight just a few yards away from Nile. Nile stopped in his tracks as he saw the Pidgeotto unfold its wings in an awesome display of power. Then, in one lightning-fast motion, the bird of prey whipped its wings together with a thunderous clap and unleashed a violent torrent of wind that shot towards Nile like a cannonball. The gust of air smashed into Nile, knocking him off his feet tumbling across the grass, stopping several feet away. Nile, dazed, swayed back and forth as he tried to stand back up. Without warning, the large bird of prey kicked off the ground with its large wings and darted through the air towards Nile.

"Nile, look out!" I yelled.

It was too late, for when Nile looked up, the Pidgeotto had already smashed its wing into Nile's gut. Nile was thrown like a toy as the Pidgeotto swept him aside. The bird of prey swooped around once again and flew low to ground, coming in for another attack. Nile shot up to his feet and roared in anger, as if declaring to his foe, "Come at me!"

The Pidgeotto complied with the taunt and eagerly smashed into Nile. My Totodile in response slammed his arms into the massive bird, trying to stop it. But the Pidgeotto would not be halted, and Nile skidded across the grass as the bird continued to fly forward and plow him across the open ground. I was stunned by how easily the Pidgeotto could overpower him. Even with all of Nile's strength, he struggled to stand as his clawed feet left gashes in the ground as he skidded across the grass.

"Nile, use Bite!" I yelled.

Seeing his opening, Nile sank his teeth into Pidgeotto's right wing. The massive bird of prey suddenly halted its relentless charge and landed, trying to shake Nile loose.

"Pidgeotto, use Gust again! Send him flying!" Falkner commanded.

Using its powerful wings, the bird of prey lifted Nile into the air; then, with a thunderous clap of its wings, it sent him flying. Nile flew several meters as he tumbled through the air before he violently smashed into a nearby tree.

"Nile!" Lyra and I exclaimed in horror.

Nile struggled to get back up, breathing heavily. He then turned to face the Pidgeotto, who was waiting patiently to see if Nile would fall back to the ground. Rather than fall, Nile instead inhaled deeply and unleashed a torrent of water towards his adversary. The Pidgeotto calmly watched as the water came rushing towards it. Before the water hit home, the bird once more clapped its wings together and let loose a thunderous gale of wind that obliterated the column and pressed Nile back up against the tree.

"Nile, are you okay?!" I said, panicking.

Unfortunately, my Totodile fell to the ground and wouldn't get back up; Nile had lost. Seeing this, I ran up to him to make sure he was okay.

"Nile! Please get up!"

I was in shock. Nile was unbelievably strong in his own right; even when his type was at a disadvantage, he still pulled through. But this Pidgeotto was tossing him around like he was a mere child's toy.

"Well, it would seem we're done here, Gold. You fought well, but your Totodile was no match for my Flying-type. Come here, Pidgeotto, let us—" started Falkner before I cut him off.

"Wait, I'm not done yet—I have one more Pokémon!" I yelled.

"You do?" said Falkner as he raised his brow. "Then, by all means, we should continue." He motioned for his Pidgeotto to ready itself.

I reached for Teeka's and Nile's Poké Balls from my bag, and, after returning Nile, I stood up and said, "I now know that none of my Pokémon can compete physically with your Pidgeotto, and trying to best it with sheer strength will not work. But I did some research, and, thanks to Lyra, I have one last trick up my sleeve. Teeka, it's your time to shine!" I said, tossing Teeka's Poké Ball.

The following flash of light unleashed Lyra's Mareep who, once fully formed, skipped around merrily, as if she were clueless to the imposing bird that stood across from her. Teeka then meeped cutely as it looked towards the Pidgeotto. The bird of prey tilted its head, curious as to whether or not it should be taking this new opponent seriously. Teeka, in response, stuck her tongue out and mocked the bird of prey as if saying, "Hit me with your best shot . . . if you can."

"You plan to beat Pidgeotto with such a small Pokémon? I can see that you're planning to use electricity, but are you seriously expecting this Mareep to win?" Falkner questioned, who was just as confused as his Pidgeotto.

"Oh, I know she doesn't look like much, but I have faith in her. Isn't that one of the lessons Li taught you?" I replied, smirking.

"Hmm, very well then. Pidgeotto, use Gust!"

"Teeka, quickly—use Cotton Guard!" I issued.

Teeka immediately withdrew into her wool coat, almost like a turtle, as the thunderous gust of wind rushed past her and sent her rolling across the indoor meadow. When she stopped rolling around, she poked her head out of her wool coat and mocked the Pidgeotto by sticking out her tongue and making a silly noise. The Pidgeotto's eye twitched angrily as it kicked off the ground and soared towards the Mareep.

"Teeka, quickly—head for the trees!"

Teeka poked the rest of her limbs out of her wool coat and quickly dashed towards the pasture of trees, with the Pidgeotto hot on her tail. Before the massive bird of prey could strike, the little sheep ran around a tree, forcing the bird of prey to veer off her trail. The Pidgeotto then landed inside the grove of trees and turned quickly, rushing over to peck at the Mareep. Despite the bird's best efforts, it had trouble trying to hit the small Pokémon. Teeka was small in comparison to the large bird, and because of this she was able to maneuver around the trees with great ease, avoiding the pecks. The large bird struggled to get at the little sheep as it played a desperate game of cat-and-mouse around the trees that made it cumbersome for the bird to move on just two legs.

I could tell the Pidgeotto was growing more and more frustrated as it was thwarted at every turn by this annoying little sheep, who continued to keep the trees between it and the massive bird. In the process of chasing the Mareep, the Pidgeotto circled the grove of trees several times, and eventually lost sight of Teeka. Infuriated, it looked around frantically, searching for its opponent before it heard a series of laughing meeps. It turned its head and saw Teeka lying in a pasture of flowers just outside of the tree line, laughing to herself as she watched the Pidgeotto wander aimlessly, looking for her.

"Your Mareep is a slippery one," growled Falkner, growing a bit frustrated.

"Oh, you have no idea—Lyra and I spent nearly half-an-hour trying to catch her last night," I joked as Lyra laughed, recalling our game of "Catch-that-sheep-before-it-fries-the-TV."

Angrily, the Pidgeotto shrieked as it broke through the tree line with blinding speed, carried aloft by its powerful wings, charging at Teeka. The Mareep quickly reacted by receding into her wool coat as the Pidgeotto hacked and slashed its talons at the ball of wool. Though no matter how furiously it struck the soft wool, the Pidgeotto seemingly did nothing to harm Teeka. As the hacking and slashing continued, the Pidgeotto's claws quickly became tangled in Teeka's wool. Lifting its leg in the air, the bird of prey shook its foot, trying to shake Teeka off. Furious, the Pidgeotto flew into the air and continued to try and pry free the ball of wool entangled in its claws. In its frantic attempts to free itself, the Pidgeotto began to notice the ball of wool attached to its foot beginning to spark with static electricity.

"Yes, my plan worked!" I exclaimed confidently.

"Wait, you planned this? What are you talking about?" said Falkner, shocked.

"It's simple, really: The more that Teeka moves around, the more static electricity is stored in her wool. Before all that running around she did, I doubt that Teeka would be able to harm Pidgeotto with her normal static charges, let alone win. But thanks to your Pidgeotto's hasty nature and onslaught of attacks, Teeka's wool has become supercharged! And now, to make things even better, your Pidgeotto can't escape this next attack!" I boasted, holding my hand up triumphantly.

Falkner's eyes widened when he realized my cunning plan.

"Teeka, use Thunder Shock!"

Teeka meeped as she unleashed every last watt of electricity she had in a brilliant display of arcing electricity that jumped across the Pidgeotto's body. The cackle of electrical sparks filled the air as volt after volt was pumped into the bird of prey. Once the static attacks ceased, the Pidgeotto, with the tips of its feathers singed, fell to the ground. Teeka then promptly freed herself from the bird's talons and skipped away happily towards Lyra as if nothing had happened.

"You did it, Gold! You won!" Lyra cheered as she ran over to me with Teeka in her arms.

"Oh my God, you're right—I won! I actually won! I did it! I beat my first Gym Leader!" I said in disbelief.

Falkner walked over to his Pidgeotto and returned it to its Poké Ball.

He then turned and said, "Gold, that was very impressive; I have to say that I haven't fought anyone like you in quite a while. Here, I want you to have this." Falkner reached into one of his pockets and pulled out what looked like a hexagonal pair of silver wings. "This is the Zephyr Badge of the Violet City Gym. Take it as proof of defeating this Gym—you've earned it," said Falkner as he handed me the Badge. "Oh, and here is your prize money—I hope you spend it well," he added, handing me a check for a relatively large sum of cash. "Gold, I hope you continue to grow as a Trainer, and perhaps we will meet again, but for now, I must bid you adieu. I have important business to tend to," he said as he turned.

"Wait, before you go, I never got to thank you properly for saving us the other night!" I called out before he could walk away.

"Oh, there's no need to thank me; it's my job to help this town and anyone else who needs it. Now then, you two have a nice day," said Falkner as he ascended a nearby tree to tend to whatever it was he was doing when we arrived.

I held up the Badge I just earned and admired it.

Lyra tugged on my sweatshirt and said, "You did it, Gold—your first Gym Badge."

"I know—I can't believe it. And it's thanks to you, little buddy," I said as I patted Teeka on her head.

"And you thought you couldn't do it—I told you that you could," Lyra said, giggling to herself.

Nodding in agreement, I then unzipped my sweatshirt and found a good spot to pin my new Badge on the inside.

"We should go now, Gold; we need to get some lunch and find a dress for me."

"Right behind you—I'm starving," I replied as Lyra, Marill, Teeka, and I walked out of the Gym and into town.

We made our way towards the center of town, where we found a fast-food joint and ate after we dropped Merlin and Nile off at a Pokémon Center. When we finished our meal, we went to where the market was and found a designer's dress store. As we walked inside, I noticed just how many dresses were in there. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I should've expected anything less, but still, I was a bit shocked at the sheer amount of outfits in there.

"Oh God, I hope this doesn't take long," I moaned, to which Lyra responded by jabbing me in my side. "Hey!"

"Oh, be quiet Gold. I told you already, this won't take long—now help me find a dress," she said, holding up her hand, threatening to jab me again with a sly look on her face.

"Okay, okay, fine. Just don't jab me again," I groaned as I started to browse through the myriad of dresses on hangers.

As I made my way up and down the aisles I thought about what would look good on my friend. My mom used to be an artist, and she taught me a thing or two about color theory and what makes other colors pop. I thought about Lyra's eye and hair color, which were both brown. Well, I personally like to say her hair is bronze and her eyes look like chocolate, but at the end of the day they're still brown.

Hmmm, what was a color that went well with brown?

As I tried to remember what my mom told me, I glanced over to see Lyra had already grabbed about three or five dresses, all of which I could tell would look bad on her even with my untrained eye. She wasn't kidding when she said she didn't know what would look good her.

I guess I should've expected this from her. She always hated dressing up and preferred to wear her short-shorts and t-shirts. The only things I think she liked to wear that were fancy were the hats she wore, as well as those stockings she always wears. I can remember not too long ago when I asked her why she wears those stockings when she hates dressing up, and she would say that they're like a giant pair of socks.

Noticing that my mind was getting off track, I went back to trying to remember what colors were good complements of brown. I then remembered the cherry trees from Cherrygrove and their gorgeous pink petals, which looked so extravagant because the brown color of the tree made it pop.

That was it! Pink was the color that made brown pop!

But it would have to be a pale pink, or else Lyra's brown eyes and hair would be overpowered. I then looked for any dresses that had a pale-pink color.

I looked down the rows of hangers and found one in particular that I thought would be perfect. It wasn't too complex, except what caught my eye was a beautiful design of, oddly enough, a cherry tree in full bloom that ran around the skirt of the dress. I grabbed it and looked around for Lyra, who had accumulated about eight other dresses in the time it took me to find one.

"Lyra, I think I found a good dress for you," I said, walking up to her, holding the dress up to show her.

"Are you sure that would look good on me? I've never really been one for pink," she said, turning to me, looking at the dress with a scrutinizing stare.

"Can you at least try it, or else why do you need me here?" I said, holding out the dress as I offered to take the multitude of dresses she was carrying.

"All right, fine, I'll give it a try." She shrugged, handing me all the dresses she had and taking the pink one.

We then went over to the dressing rooms, where I placed all the dresses she had given me on a nearby hanger.

"Okay, this may take a bit, so stay here while I change," said Lyra as she entered the room.

I sat on a nearby bench to get off my feet. As I sat there, I was about to think of something productive, like how I could've done better in my fight with Falkner, when the thought Lyra undressing popped inside my head. Appalled by this perverted thought, I tried to think of something else; but it persisted as I thought about her slim body, and the time that she clung to me so tightly when we were trying to catch Merlin. I could feel my face blushing, and I desperately tried to think of something else.

What was wrong with me?! Lyra was my best friend—I couldn't be thinking about her like this!

I looked around, trying to take my mind off of her and saw that Teeka and Marill were playing tag among the rows of dresses, which was pretty entertaining for about a minute. But then I got really bored, and the thought of Lyra undressing came back into my head.

"Ugghh, God I'm bored," I proclaimed, trying to take my mind off what I was thinking.

"You have apps on your Pokédex, Gold. You can play Poké-Pinball or something," said Lyra from her changing room.

"Wait, this thing has apps? I have Poké-Pinball? Dude, this thing is awesome!" I exclaimed, pulling out the Pokédex from my pocket.

I scrolled through the media menu and found games like Minesweeper, Pong, Tetris, Poké-Pinball, and more. Before I could start anything, Lyra came out of the changing room.

"Well, how do I look?" she asked.

I was right: the pink made her chocolate-colored eyes pop. She looked beautiful in the dress.

"Well, are you going to say anything, or are you just going to stare?" she demanded.

"Um, you look good," I said nervously.

"Thanks, you have a good eye; I never thought pink would look good on me."

"Well, it's because of your eye color—brown and pink go well together."

"In that case, I guess I'll take it," Lyra said as she turned around to change back into her regular clothes.

Shortly after, we bought the dress using some of the prize money Falkner had given me. We then went back to the hotel, ate dinner, and went to bed. The next day, Lyra got up extra early, saying she had to get ready and that I should head to the Contest Hall in a few hours. As I made myself some breakfast with what little food we neglected to finish from dinner, I noticed that Merlin and Teeka were exhausted and sleeping over on the bed. But when I finished my meal, I noticed Nile was surprisingly spry for having fought a Gym Leader the other day.

As I got dressed, I said to Nile, "You look like you're in good shape—wanna come and watch Lyra perform?"

Nile looked up at me and smiled at first, but then he looked reluctant. He must be concerned about all the people that would be there. Nile was still having trust issues; the only times that he wasn't nervous around others was when he was given a challenge to overcome.

"Nile, I know you're shy of other people, so just stay with me and you'll be fine. Come on, it will be fun," I said, trying to get Nile to leave his comfort zone, even though in the back of my mind I was a little scared myself to be going into a crowd by myself.

Nile looked back up at me and nervously smiled, nodding his head.

"Great, let's go, then. Lyra said we should leave right about now, anyway. Oh, and please don't bare your teeth at anyone."

Nile shot me a glare as if saying, "Jeez, I won't. God, you act as if I will."

We left the hotel, and Nile, as usual, clung closely to my legs, wanting to avoid other people as we walked down the streets towards the Contest Hall. When we arrived, I noticed the place looked like an opera house, and lots of people were there, as well as other Trainers. I've never seen so many people and Pokémon in one place before, and I saw that Nile was practically hugging my leg he was so nervous of the other people.

Maybe it was because I was trying to help Nile become more trusting, but I felt a little more at ease in this crowd of people than I've ever felt before. I can remember just the other day I was completely stressed out when I visited Cherrygrove on my way to Mr. Pokémon's house. I was a bit relived that I was more at ease, but I'm pretty sure that if everyone was looking at me I'd probably freak out; I've never really been good with being in the spotlight. Thankfully, that was not the case. Still, even though I was less stressed, I was hardly comfortable; but I was doing this for Lyra so I bore through it.

I soon found a bulletin that showed where all the Contests were and looked for the one Lyra was in. I got the location and made my way there, with Nile staying close to me. We were like a bunch of scared kids among a huge crowd. Even though I'm taller than most people at about six feet, I still get stressed when crammed into building with tons of people.

I soon found the spot where Lyra would be performing. The room, not surprisingly, looked like a theater room for plays. I found a good seat, and I sat down with Nile in my lap. We waited for a while as more and more people came to sit in the rows and rows of seats. Before long, the lights grew dim as an announcer walked onstage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to today's Cuteness Contest, where four Trainers will compete to see whose Pokémon is the most adorable. Here are our four contestants," said the announcer as she motioned for the curtains to roll back.

The curtains pulled back and there stood Lyra, along with two other girls and one guy. She looked very pretty in the pink dress I chose for her. I looked down at Marill and saw Lyra had dressed her up in an adorable little Eskimo coat, which made me wonder what Lyra was planning.

"Our first contestant is Johnathan, from Goldenrod, and his Sentret, Max. Next we have Beth, from Goldenrod as well, and her Pidgey, Gillion. Then we have Kelly, of our own Violet City, and her Rattata, Carrot. Last we have Lyra, from New Bark, and her Marill. All right, let's get started."

The crowd applauded as the displays of each Trainer began. I'll be honest when I say that the other three displays were pretty good, especially the one where the Pidgey used Roost and Sand Attack to make its feathers fluff up in order to make itself look like a feather duster, or when the Sentret used Defense Curls to perform several acrobatic spins as it landed perfectly balanced on its tail. Lyra would need to do extra well in order to impress the judges, and I was still itching to find out what she was going to do. Keeping her performance a secret from me was her way of teasing me, the way she always does.

"And last, but not least, we have Lyra and her Marill," said the announcer, who turned as the spotlights focused on Lyra.

Lyra walked out onstage with Marill tailing behind her.

"Marill, let's go—use Hail!" said Lyra, waving her hand to start her performance.

Marill looked up and shot up hundreds of little balls of ice into the air. I was very curious as to what she was doing, thinking she was about to make a huge mess.

"Good, now use Defense Curl, Marill!" she ordered as she waved her hand again to indicate what Marill was to do.

Marill jumped into the air and curled up into a ball and spun. As the pellets of ice fell down, they were drawn towards Marill and started to clump up around her. Once the ice formed a big ball, it came down and landed softly, making a dome of ice that, oddly enough, looked a lot like an igloo with bits of snow scattered around the dome to set the winter scene.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Marill and her igloo!" Lyra announced as Marill made a hole in the side of the dome and rolled out and waved to the audience.

That was incredible, I thought to myself. I had no idea how creative Lyra could be. The whole audience was ecstatic, as her performance was clearly the best of the whole show. Lyra and Marill bowed and walked off as a cleaning crew of two Machamp that worked backstage walked out with large snow shovels, quickly clearing the stage of the igloo and balls of ice. Afterward, Lyra and the other Trainers came out onstage as the judges got together and chatted over the four performances. Once they made their decision, they told the announcer the winner.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! Drumroll, please," said the announcer as two spotlights started to move around the stage as a drumroll played in the background.

"The winners are . . . Lyra and her Marill!"

The two spotlights centered on Lyra, whose face was of disbelief and joy. Lyra then walked up to the announcer.

"Lyra, your performance was incredibly cute and creative. As a show of your hard work, we give you this Ribbon for winning this Cuteness Contest," said the announcer as she handed Lyra the Ribbon.

I clapped along with the crowd as she took her bow and the curtains closed. The lights came back on and the crowd began to vacate the room. As they left, I overheard many of them talking about Lyra's adorable Marill and how much they wished they had one. I left the theater room, cutting my way through the crowd, and met Lyra outside in the hall.

"That was amazing, Lyra—your performance was incredible!" I congratulated her.

"Thanks, Gold," Lyra replied. "Marill and I worked very hard to get that routine down," she said, holding Marill in her arms.

"But I have to know—how did you teach her how to use Hail? I never knew Marill could do that," I inquired.

"Nah-ah-ah, a master performer never reveals her secrets. You'll just have to figure that one out on your own," she replied, waving her finger with her sly smile.

"I should have figured you weren't going to tell me. You and your secrets." I sighed as I scratched the back of my neck.

"Well, it looks like both of us have made our first steps towards our dreams, right Gold?" she said, holding up her Ribbon.

"Yeah, you're right, and we'll keep going till we both succeed," I said as I held out my Badge.

Lyra nodded as we both reflected on our successes here in Violet City.

"Now then, let's head back to the hotel and get some rest. I got you some ramen with crab and shrimp mixed in."

"Really? Sweet, we're having ramen tonight!" exclaimed Lyra.

"And tomorrow we head for Azalea Town," I said as Lyra and I went back to the hotel.


	7. Chapter 7: We Delve Deep

Chapter 7: We Delve Deep

"Gold . . . Gold . . . Gold, wake up."

I was stirred from my sleep and unenthusiastically opened my eyes to see the slim figure of Lyra dressed in the grey sweatpants and tank top that she wore for pajamas. She was standing over me, near the head of the couch. Her chocolate eyes gazed down at me and gave off the impression that she was happy to see me finally up.

The room was sparsely lit, with the only light in the room coming from the kitchen. I moved my arm out from under the covers to read what time it was on my watch: It was roughly 10:00 am.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Lyra said, taunting the fact that I had slept late.

"Mmm . . . morning, Lyra." I yawned as I rubbed my eyes and sat up.

"I have some breakfast ready for us, and while you were sleeping I got our things together, too," said Lyra, pointing towards our bags she had neatly left near the door to the hotel room.

"Well, that's good. Sorry I slept so late, or I would've helped you," I apologized as I got off the couch.

"It's okay, we've been getting up pretty early for two days now, so I decided to let you sleep," she explained, turning around and making her way towards the bathroom. "I'm going to get changed and I'll be right out," she said, closing the bathroom door behind her.

I, in turn, got changed as well, sporting my usual black sweats, red hoodie, and my favorite black-and-gold cap. After I changed, I sat down to eat the last bits of leftovers we'd accumulated over our stay in Violet City. I looked around the room and saw our Pokémon scattered about, all of whom were sleeping.

Merlin was enjoying his omniscient view of the room from up top one of the lamps in the far corner, lightly bobbing his head up and down as he breathed. Teeka was in the middle of the room, sprawled out on the floor with Nile rudely using her as pillow. The little Totodile looked like a slob, with his jaws wide open, facing up, and his tongue hanging out the side. He gave off the composure of someone who had passed out drunk. I laughed when I saw the two, and then I looked for the victor of yesterday's Contest, Marill, who was curled up on one of the couch's armrests.

I went back to eating and noticed Lyra had left our map of Johto on the table. I picked it up and unfolded the parchment to plot our route to Azalea Town. I had done some research on this town last night while Lyra was slurping away at her favorite ramen noodles. The town was famous for its Slowpoke population, which are considered sacred there. The Gym Leader was a Bug-type user, and he was aptly named Bugsy. Though he's rather young for a Gym Leader, in my opinion, from what I heard his research into bugs was quite amazing. His star player was a Scyther, a nasty-looking mantis creature with cleavers for hands.

As I was getting the plan down, Lyra came out of the bathroom dressed in her short-short suspenders, red shirt, and the big white hat that she loved.

"So, Gold, you have a plan?" she asked as she sat down to eat her share of the leftovers.

"Yeah—it looks like we're going to have to head south for quite a ways. There's a road we can follow for about half the way, but after that there's a partial mountain range we need to get past using hiking trails. I think the trip will take about two, maybe three days, so we're going to have to camp out on the hiking trails," I explained as I pointed out the path on the map while Lyra watched.

"Camping? Oh, it'll be just like those times we disobeyed our moms, and we would sneak out at night and camp next to the river!" Lyra exclaimed with glee, closing her eyes as she recalled our previous antics.

"I wouldn't really call it camping if our mothers found us before we could even start a tent," I joked.

"Yeah, but that's what made it so much fun; you know you had fun, too," she said, opening her eyes, looking back at me.

"If I recall, you were the one always dragging me into it, showing up at my window late at night and calling me a wuss if I didn't come with you. And I would regret doing it almost every time. You have any idea how many times I got grounded because of you?" I said in a rather distasteful voice. "You know, for being my best friend, you get me in a lot of trouble," I added.

"If you regretted doing it so much, then why did you come with me every time?" Lyra said slyly, pointing at me with a smirk on her face.

I paused as I realized she had me there; I would always go with her even if I complained. I could tell that Lyra knew that she won this argument: Her sly confidence was written all over her face.

Man, she's just as manipulative now as she was then.

I'll never understand how she's able to win every argument we have without even trying. But I like that about her—she's always been fun to talk to.

"All right, you got me there, but this will probably be the first time we actually, you know, go camping. You know, with the fire, the tents, the whole thing, and such."

"Well, come on, let's get going, then—I want to reach the hiking trails before sunset," said Lyra as she got up from the table. "Marill, Teeka, time to go!" she interjected, waking her Pokémon as well as the others in the room.

Merlin and Marill got up from their spots and made their way over to us. Teeka, unfortunately, awoke to see Nile using her soft wool as a personal pillow. Her eye twitched irritably, looking up at the rude reptile on top of her. She tried to shake the heavy Totodile off her, but he wouldn't budge, so she improvised. Static arced across her wool, and Nile spastically shot up to his feet, looking around angrily at Teeka, snapping his jaws, to which Teeka responded by sticking her tongue out and making a silly noise. Lyra and I laughed as we saw the two bicker with each other to the point that Nile attempted to chase the Mareep around the room.

"Okay, you two are getting a bit too feisty. Nile, return for now," I said as I grabbed Nile's Poké Ball and returned him, along with Merlin.

Lyra did the same with Teeka and Marill before we left the hotel. We walked to the edge of town and turned back to look at the sea of violet roofs, with Sprout Tower to the north. After admiring the view, we finally got out of Violet City and headed south along a road. The road was, for the most part, kept up, and was relatively large compared to the ones that I was accustomed to back at Cherrygrove and New Bark.

This, however, quickly changed as the terrain became more and more rugged, and we began to enter the mountain range that made its home on this peninsula of land. The road became more and more like the ones Lyra and I knew and loved, with nature all around us. Lyra was having a good time, from what I could tell; she's always loved being outdoors. And yet somehow her skin has managed to remain rather pale, for some unknown reason. As we were walking around a bend in the path, I noticed what looked like spider webs on the nearby trees, but they were way bigger than any web I've ever seen.

"Lyra, check these out," I said as I walked up to one of the webs to get a closer look.

"Wow, those are huge! What kinda Pokémon do you think made these?" said Lyra as she looked up at one of the webs that spanned the length of two trees.

"I don't know; it's probably a spider of some kind," I said, walking away from Lyra to see another web that engulfed an entire bush.

The webs seemed to have been there for a long time, because the leaves that were under them were brown and dying from what I could only guess was lack of sunlight. As I looked at the webs, I noticed that, unlike normal spider webs, they seemed to be comprised of two different threads. Woven together as a main structure were threads about the width of a pencil, which then had thinner threads woven between them. The thinner ones were strange, though: they were coated in little droplets of purple liquid. These droplets, when they flickered in the sun, gave all the webs around us an odd pink aura.

" . . . Gold . . . don't move," Lyra gasped from behind me.

I froze up, heeding to Lyra's command.

Standing motionless, I asked in an uneasy tone, "What is it?"

"Gold, don't look now, but . . . there are giant spiders hanging over us," she uttered in a low voice, trying not to alarm whatever was looming over us.

Despite what she said, I couldn't fight my curiosity, and I turned my head to look up and saw them. There were at least seven green spiders with yellow-and-black legs and black eyes. They were big, roughly the size of soccer balls, and they were descending down from the treetops, suspended by their threads.

"Gold, they're everywhere!" Lyra exclaimed worriedly.

My first thought was to run, but no—this time I wouldn't. I'm stronger than I was before; Nile and Merlin have both grown a lot since we were attacked by the Spearow. No, this time I wouldn't run.

I slowly reached for my bag, so as not to provoke the looming spiders. I grabbed Nile's and Merlin's Poké Balls and readied them. I then stood tall and turned my head, smirking at Lyra.

"Don't worry," I said, turning my hat around to let my dark-blue hair hang to the side. "I got this one. Nile, Merlin—let's go!" I said as I quickly tossed both Poké Balls.

Nile and Merlin burst forth from their Poké Balls and took center stage with the high wire trapeze spiders hanging above. Nile looked up and smirked at his new opponents, while Merlin tilted his head towards them as well. The spiders, reacting to the sudden movements, dropped down to the ground and quickly surrounded the duo.

"Gold, be careful," Lyra said, showing fear on her face.

I didn't blame her for being scared; she's probably remembering the encounter with the Spearow. She was stuck on the other side of the road with Nile, Merlin, and the horde of spiders between me and her.

"Don't worry, I will," I replied with confidence. "Nile, do what you do best, and Merlin, give him air support!"

They both nodded, and Nile ran with jaws open towards the nearest spider, while Merlin took to the air. The first spider pounced on Nile, but he quickly reacted and swiped his reptilian claws at the bug, knocking it back to the ground. A second spider then jumped from behind and latched onto his back. Merlin responded to the spider's attack and swooped down to peck the bug off of Nile's back.

The horde of green spiders began closing in, and several of them pounced at Nile. Nile grabbed one of the spider's legs mid-jump and swung it into an oncoming spider beside him. Merlin dove again and pecked at several spiders before returning to the air. Some of the spiders shifted their strategy and started shooting threads of silky webbing at Merlin. Merlin dodged these threads as Nile tried to take out the spiders that were firing off the threads of silk. Merlin managed to escape the barrage of webs, but then the spiders shifted their focus to Nile. Nile was about to bite into a spider when a web wrapped around his jaws and tied them shut.

Nile turned towards the spider that was still attached to the line. Grabbing the thread, Nile yanked the spider towards him and socked it straight in the face. Before he could claw away the webs on his jaws, a line attached to his left arm and tried to pull him aside. Nile tried to do the same as before, but a second line attached to his other arm and pulled his arms to the sides.

"Merlin! Help Nile—he's in trouble!"

Merlin dove down and severed one of the lines with his talons. Nile grabbed the other thread with his free arm and swung the spider around, knocking it into the others. Nile ripped the webbing away from his mouth and roared as Merlin dove behind him, pecking at yet another spider that was approaching from behind.

The spiders were no match for the duo, and they quickly shot threads of web into the trees and receded back up into their canopy. Lyra, seeing the spiders retreat, ran over to me from the other side of the road.

"Come on, let's get out of here—they might come back with more," Lyra said, relieved the spiders were gone; but her tone betrayed her fear of more showing up.

"Yeah, let's get out of here. Merlin, Nile, we're leaving—let's go!" I agreed, turning to the two.

Merlin flew over and perched himself on my shoulder, and Nile dashed over to us as we darted away. We kept moving till we couldn't see any more of the violet-tinted webs in the forest. The road was quickly starting to take an upward climb as we saw the mountains in the distance. We eventually saw a sign that said Mountain Trails Ahead, and, with that, the road quickly diminished into thin paths that climbed up into the mountain range.

As we were walking, I noticed Nile would scratch at his arms and snout every so often. I didn't think much about it until I saw him doing it more frequently.

"Hey, Nile, you okay?" Lyra asked when she took notice to his incessant scratching.

Nile looked up at her and gave her a reassuring look, trying to say he was fine, and stopped scratching himself. But as Nile stood there for a moment, he twitched like he was fighting the urge to scratch. Closing his eyes, he tried desperately not to scratch his arms and snout; but then he gave in and clawed at himself.

"What's wrong with him?" I wondered, kneeling down next to him.

Merlin, who was perched on my shoulder, eyed the Totodile as if he were assessing the situation. He then tilted his head sideways and tugged at my hat with his beak.

"Gold, I think Merlin knows what's wrong," said Lyra.

"You do? Merlin, what is it?" I asked, turning to look at the Hoothoot.

As Nile continued to squirm around, scratching his arms and mouth, Merlin took off and flew to my sweatshirt's pocket, pulling out my Pokédex with his foot. He then placed it in my hand and perched himself back on my shoulder.

"The spiders! That's it: I think Merlin wants you to look up at the spiders. Maybe the Pokédex can explain why Nile is itchy!" Lyra exclaimed.

Merlin tilted his head, as if saying yes to her assumption.

"Okay, I'll look them up—gimme a sec," I said as I flipped the device open.

I scrolled through the Bug-Type section and found a match.

"Okay, they're called Spinarak. They are part Bug- and Poison-Type, and they coat their webs in droplets of poison. The poison causes skin irritation and, if not treated quickly, will cause paralysis . . . shit," I said as I looked in my bag.

"I don't have any Antidotes. You got any?" I asked Lyra.

"I've got one, but it's my last one," she replied, digging into her bag and handing me a vial of Antidote.

"Nile, come here—this will take care of that itch," I said as I knelt down and gave Nile a shot of the vial.

Thankfully, Nile quickly stopped scratching himself, and he smiled at me for making him feel better.

"Glad we fixed that before it got worse. Thanks, Merlin," I said, standing back up.

I turned to look at Lyra, who had a horrified look on her face, and she was staring at something off in the woods.

"Oh my God, Gold, look! They followed us!" Lyra shrieked as she pointed her finger toward the forest.

I turned and saw a Spinarak about ten yards out, dangling from a thread of web, just watching us.

"Crap, they must have been following us, waiting for Nile to stop moving when their poison took effect," I said angrily.

"Gold, we need to run. We have no more Antidote—we can't fight them," Lyra said as she tugged on my sweatshirt in order to make me move.

"Arrgh, you're right. Come on, Nile. We can't fight them—we have to go!" I said as Lyra and I started to run down the trail with Nile tailing us.

As we ran, I could hear the rustling of tree branches, and I could see several Spinarak following us in the trees. We kept on running, and as we came around another bend in the trail, Lyra quickly grabbed me from behind.

"Gold, look out!"

"Whoa, Lyra, what are you . . . ?"

I stopped when I realized Lyra had just saved me from running into a massive web by mere inches.

As Lyra pulled me back away from the web, I said, "Jesus Christ, I almost ran into that—thank you."

"No problem, but what do we do now? We're stuck!" she said, looking around frantically.

I turned to look down the road and saw that the Spinarak were gaining on us. I was looking desperately for any way out when I spotted a cave off to our left that was in the hillside. I would prefer not to go into a cave, if I was given the choice, but there was no other way to go—the Spinarak made sure of that with their webs.

"Lyra, this way!" I said as I grabbed her hand and made off with her towards the cave.

"Gold, where are we going?!" she asked, confused.

"See that cave? That's our only way out—we have to take it!"

As the Spinarak closed in on us, we dashed towards the cave entrance and went inside. We kept running into the cave until it got dark and we thought we'd lost the Spinarak.

"Phew, I think we lost them, but I can't see a thing in here," I said, squinting.

"Oh, don't worry, I have some glow sticks. Here—have one," Lyra said as she slipped a glow stick into my hand.

I cracked it and shook it up, and the soft glow of green light began to bathe the surrounding walls and floor. Lyra cracked one as well, and, with the light, we could see that the walls of the cave were a very pale, brown limestone. Stalagmites and stalactites of various sizes hugged the edges of the cave, and, for the most part, they seemed to avoid the center of the passageway, making it easy to travel.

"Thank God you spotted this cave, Gold," Lyra said as she looked around at the walls of the cave.

"Yeah, I think we should wait here for a bit before we leave, though. Those Spinarak might be waiting for us outside," I said, looking back the way we came, hoping not to see a spider crawl out of the darkness.

The cave was rather wide, about twenty-or-so feet, with a ceiling of about ten feet. I looked down the way we came, and then down towards the other end, wondering what was down there.

"Well, if we're here, might as well explore it," said Lyra in a cheerful tone, almost as if she had forgotten the fact that she'd just ran from Spinarak.

"Um . . . okay, I don't see why not." I shrugged as I followed Lyra deeper into the cave.

The way Lyra can just walk away from a dangerous situation and find something positive about it has always fascinated me. I swear, she's still the little girl that loved to explore that I met five years ago.

The cave kept going deeper and deeper into the mountain as we trekked past several large rock formations and made our way around several bends and turns. The passageway was slowly starting to shrink as we kept going deeper. Eventually, we came up to a very narrow crack in the side of a wall.

"Oh, I wonder what's on the other side," said Lyra as she looked through the hole.

Lyra, being skinnier and a head shorter than me, could easily slip through; but I had to squeeze a bit to fit, and Nile followed after me. The chamber we entered was very round and large. It looked like it was a machine or something, for it had very smooth walls and a flat ceiling. As the green glow of our glow sticks enveloped the room, we saw a metal table in the center, along with some chairs.

"A table in the middle of a cave?" Lyra said, confused.

"Someone was obviously here once," I commented.

"But who?" Lyra said as she walked over to the table.

I walked over to the table as well and saw that it was rusted a bit, and very dusty. I rubbed my hand across the surface to wipe away the dust and revealed a faint red "R".

"'R'? What's that supposed to mean?" Lyra questioned, holding her glow stick closer to the table.

"R . . . R . . . R . . . why does that seem so familiar? I swear, I know that from somewhere," I said, scratching the back of my neck. "Wait a minute—I know this logo! Lyra, have you ever heard of Team Rocket?"

"Wait, Team Rocket? Aren't they some old crime organization from Kanto?"

"Yeah, they were a powerful organization, but three years ago a Trainer named Red disbanded them, all by himself."

"Oh, I remember now; but I thought they were only in Kanto," Lyra pondered, thinking about how this table wound up here.

"Well, Johto is right next to Kanto, so perhaps they had a few hideouts here, but abandoned them when they got disbanded. See? The table is screwed to the floor, so when they left they took everything else, but didn't bother to bring the table. That's why there's nothing else in this room," I explained, kneeling down to point out the screws.

"So, there's no one else in here, right?" she said nervously, looking at me, hoping the answer was yes.

"Of course there isn't. Team Rocket was disbanded; there's no one else in here besides us," I reassured her.

She sighed in relief. "Okay, good. Sorry, the talk about crime organizations and being in a dark cave just kinda made me, you know . . . uneasy," she said, holding her arm nervously.

"It's all right. Trust me, we're alone. Hey, maybe they left some cool stuff behind; let's keep looking around," I suggested, turning from the table to look elsewhere, with Lyra and Nile following me.

We walked down a few various pathways, keeping notice of where we went to make sure we wouldn't get lost. The hallways we walked down were definitely manmade; I was sure of it now: They all had flat floors, flat ceilings, and curved walls. We found another room after walking down a few hallways, and it had yet another table in it, this time with a file cabinet next to it. Near the far end of the room stood some large machines that I thought were some old radio equipment.

"Whoa, this stuff is cool!" Lyra exclaimed as she held up her glow stick to better illuminate the machines.

"Those look like old radio transmitters; Elm used to have one in his lab before it got refurbished," I told her.

"I wonder if they still work," Lyra said as she started fiddling with the various dials, levers, and buttons.

I turned around to look at the rest of the room. The file cabinet intrigued me the most, and I wondered what may still be in it. I walked over to the cabinet and tried to open it, but it was either locked or too rusty to open. As I turned away, disappointed, I saw something odd out of the corner of my eye. For a moment I thought I saw a light move around in the hallway that we came in from. At first I thought it was just one of those things you see in the corners of your vision when you turn your head quickly. But when I stared at the hallway to see if I could see it happen again . . . I did. It was like a flashlight being swung around, looking in the dark. Then, I heard footsteps.

Someone was in here with us! And they were coming this way, and fast!

I motioned for Nile to hide and he nodded. But the steps were coming closer, and they sounded like they were just around the corner. I had to warn Lyra to hide—but now the footsteps were just outside the room; I had no time to warn her. So I just reacted and hoped she didn't freak out . . . too much.

"Hey, Gold, you think you could—mmphft!" Lyra muttered as I quickly covered her mouth and hid ourselves around the radio machine, while Nile ran around some other machine.

Lyra squirmed, trying to break free of my hold as she mumbled into my hand, "Gold, what the hell?! Let go of me—what's wrong with . . ."

Lyra had stopped squirming as she realized what I was doing, when both of us heard the voice of someone walking into the room.

"Goddamn it, Bruce, I swear, we're freaking going in circles, again!" complained the voice of some older man.

"Hey, it's not my fault that all these hallways look the fucking same!" said the much deeper voice of who I could only assume was Bruce.

We could see the flashlights of the two mystery men flare around the room on both sides of the machine. Lyra froze up, and her hands clenched the sides of my sweatshirt; I could feel her pulse skyrocket.

"Oh, thank God. Bruce, I think this is the room Proton was talking about. See—radio transmitters and everything."

"Well, thank fucking God—it's about time! I swear, ever since I joined Team Rocket, I've always gotten the shit jobs," Bruce complained in an agitated tone.

Team Rocket!? When those words were uttered my eyes widened, and Lyra nearly gasped, beginning to shake in my arms. She quickly turned around and grabbed ahold of me, squeezing tightly. Her arms were wrapped around my torso, and I could tell she was trying desperately to stop herself from shaking.

"Gold . . . what are we—?" she started to whimper, but caught herself and whispered, "What are we going to do?" Her voice was filled with fear.

"Just stay quiet—I think they'll leave soon," I said faintly as I pulled her closer to prevent her shaking from making any noise.

At this point, my thoughts were racing: How is this possible?! Are they really Team Rocket?! Why are they here? Who is this Proton guy? Did they follow us? No, they were looking for something, but what?

"How far from the well do you think we are, Bruce?" inquired the older man.

"Hell if I know. These caves run from Azalea and all throughout these mountains, but if I had to guess, I'd say we're about halfway to Violet City. Look, there's the file cabinet."

"All right, I'll pry it open. What were the files we were looking for, again?"

"Ah, shit, what was it? It was something called the . . ." said Bruce, snapping his fingers.

"It's the, uuuhhhh, oh, it was something called the Dominaza Project. Proton said it had something to do with Team Rocket's old research into radios or some shit like that; I honestly don't care. Let's just grab the file and get out of here. These caves give me the creeps, man."

A loud sound of bending metal filled the room from what I could only guess was one of them opening the cabinet with some kind of crowbar.

"There it is, good. Let's . . . " said one of them before stopping abruptly.

Why did he stop talking? Did he hear us?

"Hey, is that a glow stick?"

My heart sank, and Lyra tensed up when he said that. This wasn't good—either Lyra or I must have dropped one of our glow sticks when we dashed behind this machine!

"Yeah, that is a glow stick—what the hell is it doing here?" said the deeper voice of Bruce, who I could hear walking up to the machine we were hiding behind.

Lyra was shaking more and more as the man's footsteps came closer.

"Someone else is in here," said the unidentified man in a very serious tone that sent shivers down my spine.

Lyra was breathing erratically, and was only muffled by my hand covering her mouth. For a few moments, we heard nothing else from behind the machine. I wondered if they had left and were looking somewhere else for us. Perhaps we were safe? Then, suddenly, a man dressed in all black came around the side of the machine.

"Got you now, you little rats!" he shouted.

Lyra screamed as the man tried to grab us.

"Merlin, use Hypnosis!" I yelled.

Merlin, perched on my shoulder, shot a spiraling wave of light at the man as I ran around the machine with Lyra in my arms.

"Hold it right there—where the hell do you think you're going?!" said the other man, who jumped in front of us.

Nile, quickly bursting from his hiding place, ran over and sank his teeth in the man's leg.

"Ahhhhhh! Son of a bitch!" the man hollered in pain as he pulled his leg away from the Totodile.

Seeing my chance, I darted past the man, holding Lyra's hand. We ran into the network of hallways with Nile tailing us. We could hear the footsteps of the man closing in on us.

"Get back here, you brats!"

We raced down the halls and various passageways, remembering the route we took to get into the cave. We came up to the room where we found the table and the thin opening that we squeezed through to get in.

"Once we pass this, we'll be safe—he's too big to follow us. You first—quickly!" I said as I let Lyra through the thin opening.

Lyra slipped right through with ease. Unfortunately, I tried to squeeze through too quickly and got wedged.

"Gotcha now, punk!" said the man who grabbed the hood of my sweatshirt and threw me to the ground.

"You think you and your little friend here could just snoop around without us noticing!" said the man, staring down at me.

He then kicked me in the gut, making me writhe in pain.

"Gold!" Lyra screamed in horror from behind the slit in the wall.

The man looked down at me as I tried to crawl away. He then reared his foot back, ready to kick me again, when a column of water struck the man from behind and knocked him to the floor. Nile, running forward to protect me, growled as he stood between me and the man. I was in great pain, and I struggled to get up as Nile bared his teeth at the man who was starting to get back up himself. I quickly slipped through the opening, and Nile jumped through just as the man ran up to the opening. He was too big to fit through, and he cursed profusely as he tried to fit. We didn't stick around to find out if he could, and ran until we were entirely out of and far from the cave. Thankfully, the Spinarak were nowhere to be seen.

Breathing heavily, Lyra asked, "Gold, are you okay?"

"I'm fine; my gut just hurts a bit," I said, clenching my stomach.

"Was that really Team Rocket?" she questioned in disbelief.

"They have to be. Think about it: why would they lie about being with Team Rocket if they thought they were alone? No, I hate to say it, but I think they're the real deal," I said, looking back to where we came from.

"If they're real, then we have to tell someone," said Lyra, tugging on my sweatshirt worriedly, looking back the way we came as well.

"It's getting late. We're going to have to camp out for the night, but as soon as we get to Azalea, we'll tell the police. Let's go farther, though, while we still have light," I said as we continued to walk down the mountain trails.

Walking wasn't easy, though—that man from earlier kicked me really hard, and I cringed in pain with every step. But I tried to hide it from Lyra; I didn't want her to worry. Before the sun set, we found a spot to set up a tent.

"Should we make a fire?" suggested Lyra.

"It's spring—we'll be fine without one. Plus, if that man is out there, we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves," I said.

"Oh, you're right. Uugh, that sucks—I've always wanted to camp with a fire," said Lyra disappointingly as she slumped into the tent.

"Sorry, maybe next time, Lyra. Merlin, since you're nocturnal, stay on watch, will ya?" I said as I walked over to the tent.

Merlin, who was perched in a nearby tree, nodded his head, and his eyes glowed as he looked around the woods.

I climbed into the tent and tried to get some sleep, but the pain in my gut made it hard—not to mention my thoughts were running rampant. After all this time, Team Rocket was still at large—but how? I thought that kid Red threw them into disarray? And what was that project, Dominaza, and what did this Proton guy want with it? I couldn't sleep, and I just lay there wondering.

Once morning broke, I got up and nudged Lyra (who was lying on the other side), to wake her up. We packed up the tent, and I returned Merlin back to his Poké Ball to let him rest.

"Azalea Town isn't far now—we should be able to get there before lunch," I said to Lyra as we were about to leave the area, and she yawned.

"I'm so tired—I couldn't get any sleep. Everything that made a sound made me think that Team Rocket was outside our tent." Lyra shuddered, a bit shaken and sitting on the ground.

"Look, once we get to Azalea you won't have to worry—the police will take care of it. Now let's go," I said as I held out my hand to help my sleepy friend up.

Lucky for us, we were closer to Azalea than I had first guessed, and we arrived about an hour before lunch. Without delay, we looked for the local police station. Once we found it, we rushed in to talk to them about Team Rocket.

"So, let me get this straight: you're claiming that after you two went exploring in a cave up north, you found yourselves assaulted by agents of a crime organization that hasn't been seen in Kanto for over three years now, who also have never had a presence in Johto? And that they have a base somewhere near Azalea in a cave somewhere. Is that right?" said a rather fat sheriff with a gruff mustache, sitting at a desk with a Growlithe sleeping next to him.

"Yes, that's right," said Lyra, who sat next to me in the room.

"Do you take me for a fool? Do you two have any idea how many times little brats like you pretend to see Team Rocket and expect me to freak out? Hell, I've been told just yesterday by some little girl that Team Rocket was in the well outside of our town," said the fat officer in an agitated voice as he gave us an unpleasant look.

Lyra looked upset by the way this man was talking to her: She looked like she was about cry, when she was telling him the truth.

"Hey, everything she told you is the truth!" I retorted in a stern voice.

"Yeah, and I can have you and your little partner in crime arrested for purposely reporting false information to authorities. Whatcha gonna do now, tough guy? I've got bigger problems like the disappearing Slowpoke to deal with than to listen to you two. Now get out of my office," growled the officer, giving me the evil eye.

"But, we're—" said Lyra, before I cut her off.

"Come on, Lyra, let's not waste our time here. They're not going to believe us, anyway," I said as I placed my hand on her shoulder, and we walked out of the station.

We walked far away from that station, and, eventually, we sat down on a bench next to a park to talk about the situation.

"They won't believe us. I can't believe they won't listen to us! What are we going to do?" Lyra pleaded, tugging on my sweatshirt.

"I don't know, Lyra, I don't know," I said, looking down, pondering what we could possibly do.

"We have to do something. We can't ignore the fact that we saw Team Rocket," Lyra said, worried.

"What can we do?" I said with doubt in my voice.

Lyra paused, thinking of what to do, but she couldn't. Her face took on a very concerned look; I could tell she was torn between doing the right thing and coming to terms with the fact that we couldn't do anything. I was about to tell her that maybe we should just forget about it, but then a little girl with green eyes and dark red hair tied up in pigtails walked up to us. She looked very distraught, and on the verge of crying.

"Did you say that, sniff, say that . . . that, sniff, you saw Team Rocket?" the little girl asked us with tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Oh my God, are you okay, sweetie?" Lyra asked, walking over to her, trying to comfort her.

"Did she say Team Rocket?" I said, getting up as well.

"Sniff, I . . . I . . . sniff, I don't know what to do, sniff, you have to help me p . . . p . . . please, sniff, they . . . they . . . won't believe me," said the little girl, who started to cry.

"Whoa, calm down, what's wrong?" Lyra asked as she knelt down and placed her hands on the girl's shoulders to try and calm her down.

"My grandpa, sniff, they took my grandpa, sniff, Team R . . . Rocket. I told the police, but they won't believe me!" cried the girl, balling her eyes out now.

"They took her grandpa!" I said in shock.

"They took him because he knew about them. And . . . and . . . and, sniff, please, you have to help me; you're the only ones who'll believe me!" said the poor, distraught girl, looking up at me.

I couldn't believe it—Team Rocket had taken this girl's grandpa, and the police wouldn't do anything because they think she's faking it. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist in anger. There was no doubt about it: I had to do something.

"Where did you say they were?" I asked in a stern voice.

Lyra turned and looked at me like she was confused to see me so stern.

"They . . . they're . . . in the Slowpoke Well, sniff, my grandpa saw them taking Slowpoke from there, sniff."

"Gold, what are you thinking?" Lyra asked, concerned.

"I'm going to get her grandpa back," I said as I turned and started walking.

"What, are you crazy?!" Lyra exclaimed, jumping to her feet and grabbing my hand.

"I have too—no one else is going to," I said, turning to face Lyra, who was shocked by my sudden desire to take action.

Lyra stared at me like she was seeing a completely different person. She took a moment to think, and then her eyes looked back at me with determination; she must've realized that we were the only ones that could help this girl.

"Fine. If you're going, I'm coming with you," she said, letting go of my hand.

"Good—I'm going to need your help. Little girl, can you take us to the well? We're going to get you grandpa back."

"You . . . you will?" the girl said, looking up at me with hope in her tear-filled eyes.

"You bet—you can count on us. Now, before we go, can you tell us your name?" I said, looking back at her.

"Sniff, my name is Maisy."

"Come on, Maisy, take us to the well. We'll handle it from there," I assured her, holding up my fist.

She stood there for moment, holding back her tears, knowing that someone was going to help her.

She quickly wiped away her tears and said, "Thank you! It's this way—quickly!"

She ran off with us following her towards the edge of town. She brought us to a large well that was in the middle of a field outside of town. It was roughly four feet tall with a five-foot diameter, and it was constructed out of cobblestone. I looked into it and saw a ladder that led to the bottom. There was no doubt: someone had been here recently. If only those cops would listen.

"Maisy, I need you to go back home, okay?" I told her as I turned away from the well.

"Okay. You'll come back, won't you?" she pleaded, looking up at me.

"Don't worry, Maisy. Gold is a strong Trainer—he won't let you down," promised Lyra, kneeling down to look at Maisy.

"All right, let's go Lyra. Maisy, we'll be back soon with your grandpa—I promise," I said, walking over to the well's ladder.

"Right behind you. Maisy, it's time for you to go, okay?" Lyra said to Maisy before she stood up.

"Sniff, be careful, but please get him back!" Maisy pleaded before she ran back into town.

I went down the ladder first, with Lyra following. It was a deep well, and we climbed down some forty feet or so before we reached the opening of a large cave.

"All right, we have to be stealthy, so no glow sticks," I said to Lyra, who was just getting off the ladder.

"But how are we going to see?"

"Don't worry, Merlin can see in the dark—he'll guide us," I said as I tossed Merlin's Poké Ball.

The Hoothoot, once fully formed, took his place on my shoulder.

"Merlin, we need you to be our eyes," I said to my feathered friend.

Merlin tilted his head, acknowledging my request, and then turned his head to face which way we should go. Lyra stayed close so I could guide her as Merlin helped us navigate various twists and turns of the cave system by facing the direction we should head. Eventually, we could see light around the next bend.

"All right, this must be where they are. I'll check this corner—gimme a sec," I whispered to Lyra as I quietly moved to the corner of the cave.

I poked my head around the corner and saw a very large and well-lit portion of cave with several tables scattered about, as well as cages filled with what I could only guess were Slowpoke. There were four men dressed in black with the Rocket logo on their chests. Unfortunately, I couldn't see anyone that could possibly be Maisy's grandpa.

I couldn't believe what I was getting myself into—since when was I the heroic type? Why was I so determined to save this girl's grandpa? It didn't matter; I was doing the right thing. No one else was going to help her—it had to be me. But if I was going to do this, Lyra and I would need a plan.

I walked back to Lyra and whispered, "Okay, there four men in the other room, but I could see a hall leading to another room, so there are probably more."

"So, what are we going to do?"

"If anything, I'm guessing these goons have Pokémon on them, but with only Nile and Merlin being our strongest fighters, they would quickly tire out if we had to fight all of them. So, if we can avoid it, we should try to use Hypnosis on them."

"But Gold, if Merlin just flies in there, he won't have a clear shot at any of them. They'll bring out their Pokémon before he could knock out any of them," Lyra said, concerned for Merlin.

"Crap, you're right . . . wait. What if we used Teeka as a distraction? I mean, almost no one can lay a finger on her when she doesn't want them to. They'll be focused on her, giving Merlin the time to use Hypnosis," I said cunningly.

"Sounds good—I'll get Teeka out," Lyra said quietly, releasing her Mareep from its Poké Ball.

Teeka looked up at Lyra, who told her our plan. Teeka giggled at the thought of distracting people.

Teeka skipped to the corner of the room with Lyra, and I followed behind. We both looked around the corner to see the other room.

"Ready when you are, Gold."


	8. Chapter 8: Vs Team Rocket

Chapter 8: Vs Team Rocket

Man, this is either my greatest act of kindness or the single worst idea I have ever had. Why am I doing this? I would never in million years think that I would be rescuing someone from a crime organization like Team Rocket.

I continued to question my own sanity as Lyra and I stayed behind the corner and watched Teeka skip merrily out into the room with all those Rocket thugs. If everything went according to plan, Teeka should be able distract them long enough for Merlin to take them out.

God, I hope this works.

One of the goons noticed the Mareep and said, "Hey, what do we have here? Looks like we got another Pokémon to capture, boys."

The rest of the goons in the room looked towards Teeka and eyed her up; I could tell that they were probably thinking about how much they could sell her for if they caught her. The one who noticed her first walked towards the electric sheep. Teeka stuck her tongue out at the man and skipped to the underside of a nearby table. The man then tried to grab her, but missed and banged his head against the table.

"Arrgh, we have a feisty one here. Don't just stand there, you morons—help me out, here!" said the man as the rest of the goons gathered around the table to try and catch the seemingly harmless Mareep.

Seeing that they were all distracted, I motioned to Merlin to let him know that he was up next. The Hoothoot nodded to me and quietly flew into the room, unnoticed by the Team Rocket Grunts. Teeka, spotting Merlin, scurried about the room and herded all the goons into a tight group.

"Surprise," I whispered to myself as Merlin landed on a nearby table with his talons tapping against the metal.

One of the Grunts noticing the round owl, turned, and said, "What the hell?"

Before the rest of the goons could look at what he saw, Merlin unfurled his wings and unleashed a wave of spiraling light that engulfed the men. They all quickly fell to the ground, and Lyra breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good job, Merlin," I said as I walked into the room with Lyra following me.

Merlin flew over to my shoulder, and Teeka ran over to Lyra. I was impressed that my plan worked. As I walked into the room, I saw something odd on a nearby table. I looked over to it and saw what looked like the severed, bloody tails of Slowpoke.

"Oh God, are those . . . ?" Lyra said as she cringed at the bloody sight.

"Yeah, they are," I said as I held back my stomach from hurling.

"These people are sick! Why would they do that to innocent Pokémon?" Lyra exclaimed with an upset face as she looked away from the pile of tails.

"Ughh, I think they do it in order to sell them or something," I said as I looked towards one of the cages that held the remaining Slowpoke at the other side of the room.

"Gold, we have to set these Slowpoke free before they do the same to these guys," said Lyra, running up to the door of one the three cages as she tried to open it, to no avail.

"Maybe one of these guys has a key?" I said as I kneeled over one of the passed-out Grunts.

We searched each of them, but we couldn't find a key or anything that could open the cage.

"Gold, what are we going to do? They don't have any keys," said Lyra, concerned for the Slowpoke.

"We should keep going until we . . ." I said, but then I heard a voice from the other end of the room.

"Over here! I knew I heard something!" said a Rocket Grunt that was standing in the hallway that led to the other rooms.

"Shit!" I exclaimed, reaching for Nile's Poké Ball as Lyra turned towards the man at the end of the room.

Two men quickly entered the room behind the one that spotted us. One of them had a very bulky build, while the other was shorter and had long blond hair. They both had three red stripes on their left shoulders; I could only guess that meant that they were a higher rank or something.

"What, just two kids?" said the bulky one, who was clearly confused to see four men lying unconscious on the floor.

"And they have Pokémon with them," said the shorter one, who readied a Poké Ball along with his companion.

This was bad; I knew I could probably take these two, but I had no idea how many more would show up. Even with Teeka's help, Nile and Merlin couldn't possibly take on all the people who might be in these caves.

"Nile, let's go!" I said with false confidence, hoping not to show my fear.

Nile burst forth in flash of light and hissed at the three goons. Merlin took off from my shoulder and readied himself for a fight.

"Tell Proton not to worry—this will be quick," said the larger Rocket Grunt who motioned for the one who spotted us to leave.

Then he and the other goon let loose an Ekans and a Zubat into the room. The Ekans coiled up on the floor, and, raising its head, it sized up Nile. Nile returned the serpent's gaze with a growl as the snake slithered its way over to him. Meanwhile, the Zubat soared towards Merlin.

"Teeka, use Thunder Shock!" exclaimed Lyra, pointing at the bat.

"Nile, use Bite, and Merlin help Teeka!" I ordered as the trio carried out our commands.

Teeka's wool sparked as its tail bulb lit up and fired a bolt of electricity that arced across the air towards the Zubat. Unfortunately, the Zubat banked to the side and avoided the attack. Merlin, in quick response, dove in towards the bat and tried to peck at it. The Zubat then countered his attack as it slashed its poisoned fangs into Merlin's back when he flew past it.

"Ekans, use Constrict, and follow up with a Poison Sting!" yelled the larger Grunt as his snake reached Nile.

The snake reared back as Nile tried to sink his teeth into the serpent. It then quickly coiled itself around Nile and squeezed tight. Nile gagged as the air in his lungs was being crushed out of him. The Ekans then reared its head up, hissing loudly as it bared its fangs.

"Nile! Look out—it's about to bite you!" I yelled, trying to warn him.

Nile quickly grabbed the snake just below the head and stopped it from striking.

"Good, now throw him off and use Water Gun!" I said.

Then Nile, using all his strength, pried himself out of the snake's coils. Once free, he chucked the serpent off him and shot a jet of water from his mouth towards the tumbling Ekans. The already dazed snake was sent flying as the water smashed into its body. It was then flung against the leg of a nearby table. Nile dashed forward with great speed towards his foe. The snake, lifting its head up, was greeted to a welcoming fist to the face as Nile knocked it out cold.

Meanwhile, Merlin was having trouble keeping up with the Zubat that was practically flying circles around him, while Teeka was struggling to aim her attacks.

"Merlin use Hypnosis, slowdown that Zubat!" I said.

"And Teeka, finish it with Thunder Shock!" said Lyra, who was clearly in sync with my thought process.

Merlin's eyes glowed as he sent out a wave of spiraling light towards the Zubat, grazing it in midflight. Although not put to sleep, the Zubat was obviously struggling to fly straight and slowed down considerably. Teeka saw the opportunity and discharged her electrical power on the Zubat, who quickly fell to the ground, unconscious.

The two men at the other end of the room were shocked at how quickly we dispatched their Pokémon.

"Why you little brats, you made me look like a fool!" said the bulky Grunt who tried to run up and hit me.

He was quickly knocked backwards by Nile, who shot his Water Gun at the man's face. The other man jumped back to avoid being knocked over by his partner.

"Tell me where Maisy's grandpa is, now!" I yelled angrily at the two men.

The bulky one was unconscious, so the other one looked up at me.

"Kid, you've got no idea who you're dealing with—there are more of us here!" retorted the other man.

"But apparently my two best couldn't even handle two kids," said a rather calm voice of some other person that came from behind the two goons.

I looked past the Grunts and saw a tall man that was wearing the same getup as the others, but his boots and gloves were white with orange stripes at the edges. Under his hat I saw that he had green hair, and his eyes were green, too. He walked like he owned the place with his hands hanging off the edges of his white belt.

"Proton, what are you doing here?" said the conscious Grunt, looking terrified.

This guy was Proton? Why did this goon seem so afraid of him? He doesn't look that tough.

"Oh, not much, really. I heard that two kids had the guts to take on several of our men, and I thought it might be interesting to see what all the fuss was about," said Proton in a calm voice as he walked over to the entrance of the room, cracking his knuckles.

"I'll be honest, though, I never expected to see a bunch of grown men losing to little twats," said Proton in a mocking voice.

"But . . ." said the Grunt who was cut short as Proton abruptly punched the man straight in the jaw.

Lyra and I both jumped back at the sight of this sudden outburst. I cringed at the sound that came from that man's jaw.

"Apparently fending off two kids was too much to ask of you!" Proton growled angrily.

The way this guy went from such a calm composure to this violent outburst was unsettling to Lyra and me, and the air in the room was becoming uneasy.

"Which brings us now to the center of the problem," Proton uttered, switching back to his calm voice as he turned to face me. "I have to admit, you two have guts to come here." He then paused as he looked at both of us, assessing the situation.

His face had this eerie smirk on it, and his eyes stared at us with a calm and cool composure that seemed to hide his true anger.

"Oh, what do we have here? What a lovely young girl you have with you. Mmmmm, she's just my type," he said, eyeing up Lyra creepily.

I saw Lyra's eyes widen and her face cringe as she quickly dashed behind me.

"Stop staring at me, you creep!" Lyra yelled as she peered to the side of me.

"And she's feisty, too. I think I'll have some fun with you privately when I'm done here. She looks like the kinda girl who loves to suck cock." Proton cackled to himself as he crossed his arms behind him.

Lyra tensed up and she grabbed hold of my arm, terrified of the freak.

"What the fuck did you just say to her?!" I growled angrily. "Shut the fuck up, you perverted freak!" I yelled in a stern voice.

"Oh, are you pissed that I insulted that slut?" Proton snickered back at me. "Hmph, kid, you're in no position to make demands, but I like your tenacity, and I'm in a sporting mood." He then grabbed a Poké Ball from his waist belt.

"If you were able to beat my top two slobs, then sending the rest of my men at you would be pointless. The only one here who could fight you at this point is me." His eyes then shot open like something violent just snapped into his head. "I'd like to see you stand tall after my Golbat rips you in half!" he yelled in crazed tone as he tossed a Poké Ball.

The following flash of light revealed a massive bat-like creature with a large gapping mouth. It looked over at us and shrieked in a high-pitched tone as it took to the air.

"Golbat, have at it! But leave the girl—I want her for later," Proton commanded as he pointed straight at me with his crazed eyes.

The massive bat flew towards us at incredible speed. Merlin tried to intercept the bat, but the Golbat quickly stopped and smashed the Hoothoot to the side with its large, leathery wings.

"Merlin!" I shrieked as I saw him get flung out of the air.

The Golbat landed on a table and turned towards Lyra and me. It was about to kick off towards us when Nile jumped up and clamped his jaws on the bat's leg. The bat tried to kick the reptile off, but he refused to let go as he clamped down harder.

"Golbat, use Leech Life!" ordered Proton.

The bat then violently jabbed the tip of one of its wings into Nile's back. Nile's eyes shot wide open in pain as a strange green aura started to leave his body and crawl up the Golbat's wing, into its body. Nile's eyes slowly grew weaker, and then he released his hold and fell off the table.

"Nile, no! Teeka, use Thunder Shock!" Lyra yelled as her Mareep ran forward to shock the bat senseless.

The bat was struck by the static attacks, but it looked almost unfazed.

"Golbat, use Razor Wind!" yelled Proton.

The bat flew up and faced Teeka, flapping its wings sporadically. Then, hundreds of razor-thin air discs were shot towards Teeka. Like razorblades, they cut up Teeka and knocked her out cold.

"Teeka!" Lyra shrieked in horror.

I looked to my side and saw that Merlin was back in the air, and Nile was getting back on his feet.

"Merlin, use Hypnosis, and Nile, take that bat out!" I said, desperately hoping they could do it.

The Golbat looked up towards the owl Pokémon as Merlin readied his attack. The bat tried to move to the side, but Nile, jumping from a table, clamped his jaws down on one of the Golbat's wings, dragging it to the ground.

"Golbat, move, you fool!" yelled Proton angrily.

The massive bat tried to shake the blue reptile loose, but Nile would not let go, and the Hypnosis hit the massive bat. Nile saw his chance and unleashed gouts of pressurized water that sent the Golbat flying against the wall. The Golbat was knocked out cold from the duo's attacks.

With the bat taken out, Lyra dashed over towards her electric sheep as I looked back towards Proton. He just stood there, dumbfounded by what our Pokémon did.

"Why, you little . . ." said Proton as he clenched his fists.

He looked like he was about to snap, when Nile, with what little strength he had, quickly dashed between me and him to protect me from whatever the freak might do. I then noticed that about ten or twelve members of Team Rocket had gathered behind Proton in the hallway that led to this room.

"Holy shit! That kid just beat Proton!" said one of the Grunts.

"Did you see what that Totodile did to his Pokémon?! Screw that, man, I'm out of here!" uttered another one of the goons.

The rest of them all mumbled to themselves about what just happed as several of them ran away. Proton looked enraged as he turned to see his men leaving.

"Don't run away! It's just a bunch of kids!" roared Proton as his men stopped in their tracks.

"Really, you sure you want to stick around?" I said, trying to sound brave, seeing my only chance to end all of this.

"My Totodile hasn't even gotten started yet! You really want to stick around and find out what he'll do to you?" I added, trying to play off that fear I knew some of them had.

What the hell was I doing? Since when do I act tough and make threats? I just started saying things without really thinking, but why? I knew Nile couldn't fight any more; he was at his limit. Oh God, if they saw through my bluff, we were screwed.

"Fuck that, man, I'm out of here!" yelled one of the Grunts as the rest of them ran away.

While his men ran away, Proton looked at me like he was about to bust a circuit, hate swimming in his eyes. Nile then roared loudly, as if he were trying back up my claim and make Proton leave. Proton tensed up for moment, as if he too was falling for my bluff. He then gathered his composure and looked back at us with a calm expression.

"Well, aren't you two are getting off lucky today," he said as he gritted his teeth, looking back at us.

"Well, it doesn't matter, anyway. You can have the Slowpoke and that old geezer back—we don't need them, anyway. You can find him in the back if you're so inclined to get to him."

He then turned and calmly walked away into the caves.

I feared there was some sort of trick, so I refused to move from my spot until I was sure they were all gone for good. After a few minutes, we could no longer hear footsteps from the cave system, and Nile collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

"Gold, I can't believe it—you actually defeated them," said Lyra, cradling her Mareep.

"I know, I can't believe it either. Thank God they fell for my bluff," I said in disbelief. "Quickly, we have to find Maisy's grandfather," I added as I returned both Merlin and Nile.

We entered the other room, which was empty with only a few tables remaining. Tied up over in the corner was an old man.

"Lyra, look—it's Maisy's grandpa!" I said, pointing towards him as Lyra looked to where I pointed.

We quickly dashed over to him and untied him.

With his gag removed, the old man said, "Thank you for rescuing me, but how did you know I was here?"

"Your granddaughter Maisy sent us to get you because the police wouldn't believe her," said Lyra.

"My granddaughter? Where is my granddaughter now? Is she all right?!" exclaimed the old man.

"Don't worry, she's at home now," I said.

"Oh thank God my granddaughter is safe! What about the Slowpoke?" he said.

"They're currently in a few cages in the other room, but we don't have a key," said Lyra.

"Actually, Lyra, I have plan for that."

"You do?" she said, looking at me confusedly.

"Yeah, let's just say I'm going to get some payback," I said, smirking. "I'll explain later, but sir, do you have a name?"

"My name is Kurt."

"I'm Lyra, and this is Gold," Lyra introduced.

"Well, thank you both for helping me out of here."

"No problem," I said.

Then with Kurt's help we went back to the cages and wheeled the Slowpoke through the caves. Each of us took one of the cages, and, seeing as we couldn't take them up the well, we had to find the exit that Team Rocket probably used. When we got outside, we found ourselves coming out the side of the hill on the outskirts of a meadow. I saw that the sun had gone down while we were in there, and it was quite dark out. Thankfully, we could see the town from where we were, and the trip there wouldn't be very long. We then wheeled the cages through the town and over to the police station.

Lyra had a sly look on her face when we walked in front of the station. She must've pieced together what I was going to do. When we got there, an officer came out, wondering what the hell was going on.

"Hey, what are you kids doing here with those?!" said the officer as a Growlithe followed him out.

"Oh, good. Yeah, can you do me a favor and get your sheriff for me? Tell him that his Slowpoke were found," I said jeeringly to the officer as Lyra and Kurt held the cages.

Realizing what were in the cages behind me, the officer gave me a look of astonishment, and he quickly dashed inside. Moments later, he returned with that fat Sheriff from before.

"What the hell is going on out here? This had better be . . ." said the fat man as he looked at me and the cage.

He just stood there as he processed what was in front of him. His face was quite honestly the most priceless look of awe, shock, and puzzlement I have ever seen. I wish I had picture of it. I waited for him to take it all in before I said anything.

"So, you'll never guess where I found these guys," I said in cocky voice, my arms crossed, smirking at that fat bastard who made Lyra nearly cry.

He stood there, and he tried to mouth something, but I could tell he was in a state of penitence.

"Funny story . . . you know that little girl who said that Team Rocket was in Slowpoke Well? I decided to go there and have a look myself, and guess what? Not only did I find her grandfather in there, but also these Slowpoke," I said as motioned towards Kurt and the Slowpoke.

I could hear Lyra behind me, trying to contain her laughter as she saw the face of the sheriff.

"How the hell did you . . .?" the fat sheriff said before I cut him off again.

"Oh, and don't worry, Sheriff, I even got you a souvenir while I was in there," I added as I pulled out a Team Rocket hat from my bag and tossed it to him.

The sheriff looked down at the hat, and his face was so shocked that Lyra couldn't contain her laughter anymore. He looked back me, and I returned his dumbfounded look with a smirk of revenge.

"Make sure you tell everyone who did your freaking job for you—and that's Gold, in case you've forgotten," I hissed, turning around as Lyra walked up to me, giggling to herself.

"Oh, and one more thing," I said scathingly, turning around again.

"You might want to get some bar cutters or something, 'cause I've honestly got no clue how to open these—couldn't find a key," I said, before Lyra and I went on our way.

Kurt then walked to the officers and began to explain the situation as Lyra and I left the scene. Once we turned the corner and could no longer see the station, Lyra said to me, "Did you see the look on that guy's face?"

"I know—priceless," I said as I crossed my arms, a big grin on my face.

"But Gold, can I ask you something?" she asked, turning to me.

"Um, sure, what is it?" I replied, looking into her chocolate eyes.

"What made you do all this? I mean, um, I don't want to sound rude, but I never thought of you as, well, you know. 'Cause I've never seen you act like this before."

I didn't know how to respond. I myself don't know why I took it upon myself to save Maisy's grandfather. Nor did I have any idea how I was able to stand strong in front of so many people. It kind of just came to me, like some sort of instinct. I just stood there wondering how I could say that without sounding stupid.

"I uhh, I umm . . ." I mumbled, nervously scratching the back of my neck.

"If you don't know why, that's okay—just know I'm glad that you did," she said, smiling at me.

"Uh, thanks," I responded, smiling back at her.

"Hey, it's getting late; we should probably find a hotel," she said as she started down the road at a brisk pace, motioning for me to follow her.

We eventually found a hotel, and we checked in on the fifth floor. Once we got to the room, I offered to take the couch again, but Lyra insisted I sleep on the bed. We decided to rock, paper, scissors for the bed; I let her win. As I slumped down onto the couch, I couldn't help but feel proud of myself, and I was able to sleep easy that night, knowing I did the right thing. I was awoken the next day with Lyra exclaiming something.

"Gold, wake up! You won't believe this—we're on TV!" shouted Lyra, dressed in her pajamas, shaking me to get me up.

"W . . . what?" I slurred as I rubbed my eyes and looked at the TV in our room.

"Here, let me raise the volume," said Lyra, who sat on the couch next to me, pointing the remote towards the TV.

There was a female news reporter with blue suit and blonde hair onscreen. She was standing in front of the police station, where in the background I could see the police trying to open the last remaining cage with a pair of bar cutters.

"Good morning, Azalea Town, we're reporting live in front of our town's police station, where the mystery of the disappearing Slowpoke has just been solved. Last night, two young Trainers by the names of Gold and Lyra found one of several cages that were full of our town's Slowpoke, as well as local resident Kurt, in the caves that connect to Slowpoke Well."

The screen then cut to three photos of Kurt, Lyra, and me. The photos of Lyra and me were probably taken from one of the surveillance cameras in the police station, while Kurt's was undoubtedly his ID photo.

"According to the two Trainers, the culprits responsible for the disappearance of our Slowpoke were members of the long-thought disbanded crime organization, Team Rocket."

"I can't believe it—we made the news," I said in disbelief.

"We did it, Gold! We got the news out that Team Rocket is still at large!" Lyra cheered as she looked at me with joy in her eyes.

"Well, I'm glad that's over with; I hope we never have to see them again."

"Or that Proton creep." Lyra shuddered.

I could tell she was thinking about what he might've done to her if he had beaten me, and I could tell it wasn't pleasant.

"Well, it's all over now. Don't worry about that guy." I placed my hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, you're right," Lyra murmured as she sighed to herself.

"So let's forget about all this and focus on why we came here," I said, taking my hand off her shoulder.

Lyra nodded to me as I got up from the couch.

"I'm going to take a shower before we head out," I added as I pulled off my shirt and walked towards the bathroom.

As I turned to close the door, I caught a glimpse of something odd. For a second, I thought I saw Lyra looking at me in a funny way before she quickly looked back at the TV when I turned to face her.

Did she just check me out?

I didn't think that much about it because I was probably wrong; I'm never right when it comes to reading Lyra's body language. She usually does things like that to screw with me.

I undressed and got the water started. While I waited for it to heat up, I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed that some of the bruises I got from the Spearow were still on my back. I stood there for few moments, when it hit me.

Shit! Lyra just saw that! Oh God, when I'm finished with my shower I'm going to feel her wrath.

After cursing myself for being stupid enough to show my bruised back, I tried to enjoy what little peace I was going to get before Lyra threw her hissy fit. So I got into the shower and closed the curtain, hoping that me being in the shower would be enough of a deterrent to keep Lyra at bay for a while. I have to say, though, it was nice to take a shower, considering I haven't taken one since we left Violet City. I ran my fingers through my dark-blue hair and enjoyed the warm water while I could, but then I heard the door to the bathroom open. Oh crap—it's Lyra.

"Um, kinda taking a shower here," I said, hoping she would leave.

"Why didn't you tell me about your back?" Lyra said on the other side of the curtain, in a tone that conveyed both irritation and concern.

Of all the times we could be having this discussion, why did it have to be when I was taking a shower?

"I, um, I, uh, ehhhh . . ." I sighed. "I didn't want you to worry about me," I managed, realizing there was no other way out of this. "I'm sorry."

There was pause as I wondered what her face was like on the other side of the curtain. God, I hope she isn't too upset at me.

"Gold, I thought I was your friend . . . why did you have to lie to me?" she said in concerned voice.

"I'm sorry, I told you that it's because I didn't want you to worry about me—I hate seeing you upset over me."

"Well, I'm pretty upset now, thanks to you!" she grumbled as I heard her stamp her foot.

"Lyra, I'm sorry I lied to you, please forgive me."

There was another pause, and each second that passed I felt worse and worse about lying to her.

"Fine," she said in a rather pouty tone, breaking the silence. "I'll forgive you on one condition."

"Sure, what is it? I'll do anything," I said, bracing myself for what I might have to do.

"Anything?"

"Yes, anything—just please forgive me."

Once again there was another pause. This one was lasting longer than the last one, and I was half tempted to pull the curtain back to see if she was still there, but didn't for obvious reasons.

"Okay, if you want me to forgive you, then you have to do something for me," she stated, breaking the silence.

"I'll do whatever you want."

"Okay then, I'm curious about a certain type advantage among Pokémon, and I need you to help me out with an experiment," she said in rather cheerful tone, with a hint of her sly voice in there.

I stood there, confused. Wasn't she just pissed off at me a second ago? Why was she so happy all of a sudden?

"Um, sure, I'll help you once I'm finished in here, all right? I'll be done in a minute, so can you please leave? I'd like my privacy, when, you know, I'm in the shower," I said as I went back to shampooing my hair.

"Oh, don't worry. In fact, I need you to be in there for this." She giggled.

"Lyra, what are you talking about? What are you going to do?"

"Gold, you're all wet in there, right?" she said in her sly voice.

"Uh, yeah, of course I'm wet, that's kinda the whole point of a shower, you know. What kind of stupid question is that?" I said in an irritated tone, wishing she would leave already.

"Oh, I was just checking to make sure," she said as I heard a cute little meeping sound come from the other side of the shower curtain.

I stood there for a second, wondering what that sound was.

"Lyra, is that . . . is that Teeka with you?" I asked, looking at the curtain that separated us.

"May-be," Lyra said in that playful voice of hers.

"Why do you have . . . ?" I paused.

Wait a second: She has Teeka with her, I'm currently wet, and she wants to know something about type advantages? What is she . . . ? OH GOD NO!

I quickly slumped against the wall of the shower to get as far away from the curtain as I possibly could.

"Lyra, this isn't funny," I said, panicking knowing what she was about to do.

"What's the matter, Gold? You scared of a little electricity? You said you'd do anything for my forgiveness, and this is it," she said slyly.

"Whoa, whoa, come on now, let's be reasonable, here," I said, trying to get her to stop.

"Gold, this is what you get for lying to me!" Lyra giggled playfully as I saw her hands lift her Mareep over the shower curtain.

Thanks to what happened next, I had to spend about ten-or-so minutes after my shower getting my hair to stop standing up, as well as the tingling sensation.

When I stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed, Lyra laughed at me from her couch and giggled. "Okay, now I forgive you."

I gave her a distasteful look, which only made her laugh more. She then got up and took her shower. I gathered my things, and I even organized Lyra's stuff, too. Why I did that for her, I don't know; I guess I like her too much to hold a grudge. Once Lyra got dressed, we went outside the hotel, grabbing a map along the way.

"So, what's first on today's list?" she asked.

"Well, let's go to the Pokémon Center and get everyone checked out," I said, pulling out the Town Map.

"Are you going to take on the Gym later today?" she inquired, eager to see if I would say yes.

"Well, I did just single-handedly scare off a major crime organization, so yeah, I think I can take Bugsy on." I smirked.

"Well aren't you the cocky one. Be careful, or you might find your next shower to be rather electrifying," Lyra said in her patented sly voice.

"I'm not cocky! And that wasn't funny!" I retorted as Lyra giggled to herself.

"I'm starting to think that nickname of yours is going to your head," she laughed.

"And I'm starting to think your idea of revenge is way too violent."

"And that's the story of how Gold learned his lesson in telling the truth to his best friend," she declared, as if she were reciting some children's book with a moral lesson.

I sighed, knowing that I was getting nowhere talking to her.

"Well, anyway, you have a plan for fighting Bugsy?" she asked, shifting the topic.

Glad to hear that Lyra was no longer trying to make a fool out of me, I said, "Well, it's roughly the same as before: Merlin will be up first to take advantage of his Flying-type against the bugs, with Nile up after him to finish whatever he can't."

"What are you going to do about that Scyther you talked about earlier? It sounds tough," she added.

"I'm not too worried—bugs might have high attack power, but most of them can't take a hit. Nile just has to land a few blows, and down goes the Scyther."

"If you say so," she replied as we found the Pokémon Center.

We walked in and noticed a few Trainers in there, chatting among themselves; two of them were girls, and the other three were guys. As we walked up to drop off our Poké Balls to the nurses, one of Trainers looked over at me.

"Hey, it's that kid from the news guys," said a Trainer who was wearing a yellow-striped jacket.

"Wait, you mean that's Gold? The kid who fought Team Rocket?" said one of the girls, a curly-haired redhead who was wearing a pink skirt and a black shirt.

"Yeah, that's definitely him. Hey, Gold!"

I turned to the Trainers, not exactly thrilled that they recognized me. I'm not that much of social guy; I mean, besides my Pokémon, Lyra was practically my only friend. I guess this is what I get for telling the police to pretty much advertise my name in shining lights. Lyra, on the other hand, seemed like she was more than happy to be recognized.

"Um, hi, yeah, that's me," I mumbled, trying not to sound nervous, but failing.

The rest of the Trainers all turned to look at me.

"So did you really fight Team Rocket?" one of them asked.

"Um, yeah, I did. I was pretty surprised, too. You know, because I was shocked when I found out that they were still around, you know," I replied awkwardly, scratching the back of neck, the thing I always do when I'm nervous.

"You should've seen him—he took on, like, five guys at once!" said Lyra.

"Uh, yeah, I guess you could say I did that, but, um, it wasn't like . . ." I said timidly before one the kids interrupted me.

"Whoa, really? That's cool! Five guys at once!"

"Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that." I scratched the back of my neck again.

One of the other girls walked up from her table over to me. She was skinny, and roughly the same height as Lyra. Her hair was sky blue, and she wore it in a similar fashion that Lyra wore hers. Her eyes were light blue, and she wore black-and-gold sport shorts, a red shirt, and white vest-like jacket over that.

"Hi, Gold, it's nice to meet you—my name is Crystal, but you can call me Kris," the girl said as she held out her hand to shake.

"Um, hi," I said as I hesitantly returned her handshake.

"I have to say, it's impressive what you did," she complimented.

"Uh, thanks."

"Gold and Lyra, your Pokémon are good to go," said one of the nurses at the other end of the room.

I mentally breathed a sigh of relief that I finally had an excuse to stop talking to this girl, along with the other Trainers.

"Gold, that's us—let's get our Pokémon," Lyra said, grabbing my hand and taking me back to the desk.

"Sure thing," I said.

We gathered our Poké Balls and made our way out of the Center.

"Hope I get to meet you two again," called Kris as we left the Center.

Lyra and I walked down the street, starting to make our way towards the Gym.

"Looks like you're going to get a lot of attention from now on, Gold," Lyra said, laughing. I sighed.

"I guess you're right. Uggh, I never really liked talking to other kids that much—I mean, other than you." I shrugged.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Come on—I can't wait to see you fight Bugsy!"


	9. Chapter 9: It Evolved!?

Chapter 9: It Evolved!?

The Gym we entered was like a museum: it was wide and open, with the walls painted green and lined with cases full of interesting insects of all shapes, sizes, and colors. In the center of the room were long aisles filled with more display cases. There were several people visiting the place, which further cemented the fact that this Gym was a museum part-time. Under some of the cases were labels explaining where some of the bugs came from and what they were.

"Hey, Gold, check this out! The bugs over here are from New Bark!" exclaimed Lyra as I walked over to the cases she was looking at.

I looked at what was inside and wasn't that surprised; most of the bugs in there I'd seen before, and they were pretty normal looking. But then, there was one I never saw before: it was slender and roughly five inches long; its main body looked like a dead leaf. On its front legs was a pair of nasty-looking pincers that were bright red, like they were dipped in blood or something. It had a freaky-looking proboscis that ended in a tiny claw that was also highlighted in red. It had pale brown eyes that had a dot in the center that seemed to follow you, like the eyes of a praying mantis, giving off the impression it was still alive.

"Man, that thing is freaky with a capital 'F,'" said Lyra as she stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"Wait, that thing lives in New Bark!" I said, thinking about how glad I was that I never saw one before, but also a little disturbed knowing that it lived there.

"Ughh, okay, let's go find the Gym Leader before I further ruin my image of New Bark," said Lyra as she walked away from the display case with me following her.

We walked up and down rows and rows of bugs in our attempt to hunt Bugsy down. I figured he'd be out lecturing someone on insects, because that's what I heard he does all the time. As we scoured the museum, we saw many more freaky-looking bugs that I swear came straight out of the science fiction novels I used to read. Every so often I would hear Lyra utter some rather unsettling noises at the sight of some of the bugs.

"Man, these bugs are just freaky, I swear that—" Lyra gasped, stopping dead in her tracks.

I was glancing at some weird wasp-looking thing while I was walking and didn't notice that she had stopped. When I turned to look in front of me, I nearly ran into her. I had to abruptly step to the side to avoid knocking her over, almost falling myself.

"Whoa, Lyra, don't just stop like that when we're walking; I nearly knocked you over," I reprimanded, looking over to where she was staring.

It was then that I saw what made Lyra stop in her tracks. At the other end of the aisle was a very large spiderlike Pokémon that had a red-and-black body, and its legs were covered with yellow-and-purple markings. It was carrying a display case full of bugs on its abdomen, and it was crawling towards us. It scurried along on its creepy-looking legs and stopped about five feet ahead of us, crawling up one of the shelves. It grabbed another display case that was there and swapped it with the one on its back. It then descended the shelves and crawled right past us.

"Okay . . . apparently the staff here is entirely comprised of bug Pokémon," I said, a bit creeped out.

"Gee, that's not creepy at all. Ugh, I hate spiders," Lyra mumbled, a little dazed by what she saw.

"Man, this Bugsy guy has a pretty sweet thing going here. I've always sorta wanted a legion of spiders to carry out my will," I joked, crossing my arms, looking at the spider Pokémon who continued to organize the display cases.

"You're such a nerd, you know that?" Lyra teased, giving me a sly look.

"Oh, big talk coming from the girl who begged me to read her my science fiction novels on the weekends," I fired back, smirking back at her.

"Hey, I only asked you to do that for me because you would always use those funny voices when you read those stories to me. It's not like I actually understood anything that was happening in them," she said in a pouty tone, looking up at me.

I noticed that her face was looking a little embarrassed. I think this was going to be one of those rare occasions where I had the upper hand in our discussions.

"Oh, you mean like this?" I said jeeringly as I cleared my throat.

"Ehh Gat! Impossible! The spiders, they have grown to . . . massive proportions. The radiation must have caused a . . . a . . . a DNA memory relapse, causing them to revert to their"—I gasped—"their prehistoric forms!" I said this in my patented crazy-scientist voice, which sounded kind of like a poor impression of William Shatner.

Back when Lyra and I were kids—which we still pretty much are—I was able to make her crack up all the time whenever I used that voice. Even now I could see Lyra snickering a bit, but she was trying to hide it.

"Stop that, I'm not ten anymore," she said as her face grew more embarrassed.

I was having too much fun to stop now. Five years may have passed since I met her, but she hasn't changed a bit. This must be what Lyra feels like whenever she makes a fool out of me. I can see why she loves doing it.

"My God . . ." I said as I pretended to pull off a pair of glasses.

"Quickly, young damsel in distress, allow me to . . . oh no, they've got you!" I said as I moved my hand down Lyra's back, mimicking the motion of a spider.

She arched her back as she let out a quiet yelp.

"Ah, don't do that!" she shrieked as she lightly punched me in the side.

I pulled my hand away and laughed as she gave me a pouty look.

"Don't do that in a place like this; I don't like spiders," she complained, crossing her arms.

I could tell by the look on her face that she was both embarrassed and a bit mad as she looked up at me.

"You're so cute when you're mad. You look like an angry ten-year-old," I said, chuckling.

She responded by forcefully pulling my hat down over my eyes and saying in a pouty tone, "I'm not a ten-year-old—I'm fifteen!"

Wow, I think I finally found one of the few buttons that drive Lyra crazy. For the longest time, I thought she didn't have any, and was pretty much impossible to annoy. I never would've guessed that being called a ten-year-old would cause a reaction like this from her. Maybe it's because she's a tad short, and that's why it gets to her.

"Okay, okay, sorry—I'll stop," I complied, readjusting my hat so my hair hung on the side.

"Good, now that you're done being a nerd, can we please find Bugsy already?" asked Lyra with her arms still crossed as she started to walk again.

I promptly followed her and started to look around again for anywhere a Gym Leader would most likely be. I scanned the whole museum, and I finally found something that might lead us to Bugsy.

"Hey, look over there—that sign says Conservatory and Battlefield," I said, pointing towards a sign that hung over a doorway at the other end of the museum.

"Oh, maybe Bugsy is in there. Let's check it out," Lyra said without that pouty tone from before.

We cut across the large room and walked up to the glass doors, through which we could see that the other room was like a large-scale terrarium. When we walked in, the first thing I noticed was a sudden wave of heat and humidity, as well as the smell of wet wood.

"Whoa, that's hot," I said as I felt sweat start to bead down my back.

"It's like a sauna in here," added Lyra.

I looked around and noticed that this place was kind of similar to Falkner's Gym, except instead of a forest this place looked like a dense jungle, though rather than having large windows around the perimeter, the place was completely walled in. I had no idea how large the indoor jungle was, because everywhere I looked I saw trees and vines that obstructed my view of the whole room. I looked up into the canopy and noticed rows of lights that hung from the ceiling, along with some sort of complex sprinkler system. There were all sorts of insects and bug Pokémon crawling around the place, too.

"Well, I hope Bugsy is in here," I said as Lyra and I made our way down a thin path.

As I walked, I was suddenly startled by a Pokémon that abruptly zoomed past my face and made me jump back a bit.

"What was that?!" cried Lyra, turning to the side, trying to see what flew by.

It was very fast, and I only caught a glimpse of it, but it was definitely red, and looked like some kind of dragonfly. I was about to say something to Lyra, but then I heard something crashing through the ferns to my side.

"Gotcha now!" said the voice of what sounded like a kid.

The next thing I knew, I saw a net come down over my face, which made me flinch. I turned to see where it came from and saw a long pole attached to the net that led back to a kid, who was holding it. Lyra, noticing the commotion, turned to see what was going on. She promptly laughed at what had happened to me.

"Whoops, sorry about that," said the kid in an apologetic tone, lifting the net off my head.

The kid was surprisingly short, shorter than even Lyra by a few inches. His hair was a shaggy pale purple. His clothes were green and looked like some sort of safari getup. I could tell this kid had been in here for a while, because his face and legs had a few smudges on them.

"Oh, uh, don't worry about it—no harm done," I mumbled as I readjusted my hat.

"Sorry, I was trying to catch that Yanma that flew by, and I saw your red sweatshirt and thought you were him by mistake," explained the kid as he looked side to side, searching for his Yanma.

"So that thing was a Yanma?" inquired Lyra.

"Yup, they're ridiculously fast dragonflies. He's my favorite bug to catch in here," said the kid.

"That sounds cool. Oh, hey, have you seen Bugsy in here, by any chance?" I asked.

"Oh, that would be me," said the kid, pointing his thumb at himself.

Wait, this kid is Bugsy? I knew he was young, but I thought he'd be, well, a bit taller.

"You're Bugsy?" said Lyra.

"Yep, they call me The Walking Bug Pokémon Encyclopedia," Bugsy stated as he put his hand on his hip, like he was proud of the title.

"I can see why—that museum of bugs you have out there is impressive," I complimented.

"Thanks—I caught them all myself. So, how can I help you?" he asked, leaning on his net's pole.

"Well, my name is Gold, and I came here today to challenge you for your Badge, Bugsy," I said with determination.

"Oh, so you're the one I heard about on the news, which probably means you're Lyra, right?" he questioned, looking over to her.

"Yep, that's me—nice to meet you," said Lyra.

"Well, first off, I have to thank you both for helping this town with the missing Slowpoke. I never would've guessed that Team Rocket was responsible; I thought they were all long-gone, to be honest," said Bugsy as he lifted his net onto his shoulder.

"You don't have to thank us—we were just doing the right thing," I said with humility.

"Well, considering that you went up against Team Rocket, that must mean you're a strong Trainer, then?"

"Um, I guess you could say that."

"Great!" Bugsy said as he promptly turned to run down the path we were on.

"Over here—this way to the battlefield!" he said excitedly, turning as he ran.

"Wow, this kid is full of energy," I said under my breath as Lyra and I quickly dashed down the path to follow the twelve-year-old.

At the end of the path, we found an area that was probably the only open patch of grass in the entire room.

It was wide open, with plenty of room for a battle. There were several vines that hung over the area that spanned the trees that ran along the perimeter of the area. I could see many Metapod and Kakuna hanging in the nearby trees. They probably hung out there to enjoy the battles that take place. As I observed the room, there was one detail that caught my eye: There were large gashes imbedded into some of the trees, which looked like someone had taken a sword to them. They were probably made by Bugsy's Scyther.

Bugsy stood at the opposite end of the area, and he looked eager to get started.

"Okay, Gold—welcome to my Gym! Here we will battle to see if you can beat my unbeatable team of Bug-types!" he said proudly, with his hands on his hips in a triumphant pose.

"Oh, he sounds tough—this is going to be good," said Lyra as she found a nearby bench to sit down on; she was clearly excited to see me fight.

"All right Bugsy, I'm ready whenever you are," I declared as I took off my sweatshirt due to the humidity, leaving me in my black t-shirt.

As I got Merlin's Poké Ball out, I thought about what this Bugsy kid was capable of. I wasn't sure if I should be taking him seriously. I mean, he's four years younger than me, and way shorter, even though I am a bit tall for my age. Plus, he's like a five-year-old boasting about how amazing he is. I had to remind myself that he's still a Gym Leader, and you don't get that title by being weak.

I quickly felt my thoughts shift pace and started strategizing on how to best beat him. It's weird—I've started to notice that whenever I have a fight, my mind just somehow works better than usual. It's almost as if my personality shifts or something, and I'm able to make bolder moves than I would normally.

"All right, then," Bugsy said, smirking. "Let's go, Beedrill!" He tossed a Poké Ball that unleashed a large hornet-like creature with massive spikes for hands.

"Merlin, you're up first," I said, sending my Hoothoot into the fray.

Merlin, once fully formed, promptly tilted his head towards the wasp, showing neither fear nor confidence. The Beedrill took off from the ground and hovered in place, waiting for its Trainer's command.

"Merlin, use Peck!" I instructed Merlin, getting the battle underway.

Merlin kicked off the ground and zoomed in towards the hornet.

"Beedrill, dodge and use Pin Missile!" ordered Bugsy, waving his net like a band conductor.

The Beedrill, with lightning-fast reflexes, dashed to the side as Merlin zipped past him. It then quickly turned to face the Hoothoot and pointed its massive drill-like spikes at Merlin. The spikes began to glow as hundreds of needles were sent flying towards Merlin like a pair of machineguns.

Looking behind at the incoming stream of needles, Merlin quickly banked to the side and avoided the attack.

"Merlin, quickly—fly up and circle him before you try again!"

Merlin shot up into the air and began to fly around the edge of the tree line that surrounded the open pasture.

"Beedrill, shoot him down," said Bugsy, once again pointing at Merlin with his net.

The Beedrill, who hovered over the center of the battlefield, quickly spun around and began to track the airborne Pokémon. Its spikes glowed once more, and a continuous stream of needles was shot at Merlin. Merlin continued to circle the Beedrill with a constant shower of needles following him in his wake. It was like a fighter plane avoiding heavy machinegun fire.

Once the endless barrage of needles ended, it looked like the Beedrill had to recuperate before it could use that attack again.

Seeing this opportunity, I called out to Merlin, "Quickly, he has to recharge—go and use Peck!"

Merlin, heeding to my command, backed sharply and dove towards the large hornet.

"Beedrill, charge him with Poison Jab!" shouted Bugsy in that overly-confident voice of his.

The Beedrill zoomed towards the incoming bird and reared its spikes back as the two closed in. When the two met in midflight, the Beedrill lunged one of its spikes towards the Hoothoot, but Merlin rolled under the attack and pecked at the hornet's body. Thanks to Merlin's Flying-type, I saw that his Peck had caused the Beedrill to recoil backwards.

"Merlin, don't let up—keep pecking!" I ordered, thinking I had the upper hand.

"Yeah, go Merlin!" Lyra hollered from her bench.

Merlin dashed forward and pecked again at the Beedrill, and once again the massive hornet recoiled back in the air. I could tell that the wasp Pokémon was taking too much damage, and one more peck would be enough to finish the Beedrill.

"Beedrill, use Pin Missile!" ordered Bugsy.

The Beedrill quickly crossed its spikes as they began to glow again. Then, in one quick motion, it unfolded its arms and pointed them towards Merlin, who was already too close to avoid the attack. Merlin tried to stop, but was too late: The Beedrill let loose a stream of needles, targeting the bird.

"Merlin!" Lyra and I exclaimed as we saw Merlin take the barrage of pins.

Then I saw that Merlin wasn't stopping; in fact, he continued to fly through the needles! I was shocked; I thought Merlin was done for, but he kept on flying through the insect's projectiles, barely fazed. Once he reached his target, he tackled the Beedrill out of the air, ceasing the endless stream of pins. Merlin landed on the ground on one foot, as the Beedrill collapsed into the grass in an exhausted heap.

"Wow, great job, Merlin!" I said, congratulating my feathered friend.

I had forgotten that Pin Missile is a Bug-type move, and because of that its attack power is cut in half when up against its natural predator, the Flying-type. Merlin looked a little scratched up, but he was ready to keep going.

"Beedrill, you did a good job—now return," said Bugsy as he returned the hornet to its Poké Ball.

Bugsy still had that smirk on his face, though, almost as if he was okay with losing one of his Pokémon this early in the game. I was unsure if he was unaware of the clear advantage I had, or if he had some trick up his sleeve. He must have a lot of faith in that Sycther of his, but I knew that wasn't who he would send out next. He had one more Pokémon before that, because I know he uses three. I hoped Merlin was ready for one more fight.

"Okay, Gold, you're doing a good job so far," Bugsy praised, leaning on his net's pole.

"Thanks, I worked hard with Merlin to get this far," I said.

"I can see—now let's see how you do against my Spinarak!" he proclaimed as he tossed another Poké Ball, wearing a fat grin across his face, like he knew something I didn't.

In the following flash of light, I saw the familiar shape of the Pokémon that harassed Lyra and me back in the mountains. I smiled at the sight of the green Pokémon, because I knew the trick about those spiders. Bugsy was probably going to pull the their-webs-are-poisonoustrick on me. I could tell Merlin knew this too, and he glanced back at me as we both exchanged a collective nod.

"Spinarak, use String Shot!" said Bugsy, once again pointing his net with his smirk on his face.

"Merlin, fly into the canopy!" I said, motioning my hand to get Merlin to move.

Merlin quickly avoided the toxic webbing and flew into the trees that ran around the perimeter. If I was right, the trees will make it extremely difficult for the spider to shoot his toxic webs at Merlin.

"After him, Spinarak!" Bugsy commanded, pointing his net.

In quick response to its Trainer's command, the spider quickly scurried up into the nearby trees. Both Bugsy and I lost sight of our Pokémon, and we heard a large amount of commotion coming from the trees. I ran across the field to try and get a better look, but couldn't.

"Merlin, be careful in there!" I shouted, concerned that I couldn't see him.

Then, Merlin suddenly burst out from the top of the canopy and flew over to land on one of the vines that hung over me. I turned to see him, and he looked pretty beat up. Man, whatever happened in there, it was clear that the spider definitely had the upper hand. My plan must've backfired; Merlin wasn't the best at flying through thick canopies, where the spider Pokémon had an advantage.

I then saw the Spinarak leave the nearby tree and scurry across the same vine that Merlin was perched on. My Hoothoot quickly turned to face his foe, ready for my command.

"Good work, Spinarak! Now use Poison Sting to finish it!" said Bugsy enthusiastically.

"Merlin, use Peck!"

Merlin kicked off the vine and flew towards the spider. The Spinarak quickly dodged the attack and bit into Merlin's wing as he flew by. Merlin landed farther down the vine, turning again to face the spider at the other end of the vine. I could tell that Merlin was about to collapse, and the spider was too fast for him in this condition; I had to think of something quickly.

"Spinarak, use Poison Sting one more time—go!"

The spider closed in on Merlin with its fangs flaring. Then, I had an idea.

"Merlin, cut the vine!" I said frantically.

Merlin nodded to me, and, using his talons, he quickly sliced the vine underneath him. With its foothold severed, the spider plummeted towards the ground, with Merlin flying in the air.

"No, Spinarak!" said Bugsy, his voice showing worry for the first time.

The spider fell roughly twenty feet and crashed into the ground; thankfully, it was out cold.

"Way to go, Gold! All you have to do now is beat his last Pokémon—you can do it!" Lyra cheered.

"Thanks, Lyra, don't worry—I'm ready for him," I said, turning to see Lyra, who had let her Marill out to watch.

"Merlin, you've fought long enough. Here, have a break—you've earned it," I said as I returned Merlin to his Poké Ball.

"Nile, my main man, time to go to work," I said as I let loose Nile's Poké Ball.

Nile burst forth, ready for a fight, and growled in anticipation.

"So it's down to our last Pokémon, I see," observed Bugsy with his smirk returning to his face.

"Nile and I are ready for anything your Sycther can dish out; its Attack might be high, but Nile can take any hit like a champ. And just like your other bugs, it won't be able to take many hits from Nile," I proclaimed with confidence as Nile showed off his strength.

"My Scyther?" said Bugsy as he tilted his head, as if I said something confusing.

"Yeah, your Sycther—I did my research, and I know for a fact that your best Pokémon is a Sycther."

"Oh, I don't have a Scyther anymore. I mean, technically I still have him, but he's not a Scyther anymore." He slyly grabbed his last Poké Ball.

"Wait . . . what? What do you mean 'not anymore'?" I asked, confused.

Bugsy's smirk grew wider as he tossed his last Poké Ball and said, "Here, let me show you. Go, Scizor!"

"A Scizor?" Lyra and I both exclaimed as the flash of light revealed to us what it was.

What we saw shocked us both. It was a bright-red Pokémon whose shell had a lustrous shine. It stood on two thin legs connected to a large red abdomen. It had broad, spiked shoulders with four insect wings on its back. Its head had three spikes on it, but no visible mouth. Unlike a Scyther, this Pokémon's arms ended in massive, bear trap-like claws. The Pokémon stood there, motionless, with its eyes closed and its arms crossed. The scariest part about it was that it was almost as tall as me.

"This is a Scizor, the final evolution of Sycther. I just recently figured out how to evolve him, too. So, congrats—you're the first person to see my new ace player," said Bugsy, his arms crossed.

"What the heck?" I said, dumbfounded by the massive red insect.

Nile was in shock, too; he had never faced an opponent who could tower over him before.

"Scizor, let's go!"

The Scizor's eyes shot open as it swung its claws to the sides, giving them a quick test. The claws opened and closed with lightning-fast speed, and they sounded like two swords being slid against each other.

"Nile, get ready! Remember, it's still a Bug-type—it won't be able to last long if you wail on him!" I said as I pointed my finger towards the red insect.

Nile charged towards his towering opponent with his jaws ready to go.

"Scizor, go and use Fury Cutter!"

The Scizor assumed a fighting stance and zoomed towards Nile, carried aloft by its wings. When the two met, the Scizor launched one of its claws down towards Nile. The Scizor was fast, but Nile was just as quick, and he sidestepped out of the way as the claw dug into the ground.

"Yeah, get him, Nile—he's open!" Lyra cheered.

Nile, seeing his chance, quickly clamped his jaws down on the insect's arm. But when he did, I saw his eyes shoot open, and he quickly released his hold and hollered in pain, like he had just bitten into a rock. The Scizor then calmly pulled its claw out of the dirt and turned to face the small reptile.

"Wait, what just happened? Why didn't Nile's bite do anything?" I said in confusion.

"Well, you were right when you said that most Bug-types have very low defenses. But Scizor here isn't just a Bug-type. He is part Bug- and part Steel-type!" Bugsy exclaimed with joy.

"Steel!?" Lyra and I both exclaimed.

"Yep, Scizor's entire exoskeleton was originally just your average organic shell, but was then replaced with steel when he evolved."

"Its body is made of steel." I shuddered as I realized what that meant for this fight.

Nile's most powerful attack was Bite, and that couldn't even scratch this guy. What was I going to do? What could I possibly do? Nile could never beat him like this. I stood there in shock.

"Scizor, use Fury Cutter!" said Bugsy.

"Nile, get out of there—run!" I said, panicking.

Nile quickly ran away as the terrifying sound of the Scizor's claws echoed across the room. Nile bobbed and weaved around the Scizor's attacks; one after the other the claws clamped down towards Nile. His reflexes could hardly keep up with this insect's intense speed and ferocity. Suddenly, the Scizor kicked its leg forward, straight into Nile's jaw, and threw him off his feet.

"Nile, look out!" I yelled in horror.

The Scizor was quickly over Nile and plunged its crablike claw down towards the Totodile. Nile then quickly grabbed both ends of the claw with his hands and held it open before it could slice him. The Scizor pinned Nile to the ground and put all its weight down onto him. The claw over Nile was slowly closing, and Nile couldn't keep it pried open for long. I could see that Nile was in agony, and he struggled with everything he had to keep the claw off him.

"Nile! No! Get out of there! Use Water Gun!" I shouted, terrified that Nile wouldn't just lose, but die.

Nile struggled, but managed to fire off a jet of water that knocked the Scizor off him. Just as Nile got up to his feet, the Scizor was on the attack again. With its claw closed, the red insect dashed towards Nile and spun around, smashing its heavy claw into Nile's side, sending him tumbling.

"Nile!" Lyra gasped in horror.

Nile struggled up to his feet, but then I saw the Scizor dash forward again, its claw open as it lunged towards Nile.

Nile dived out of the way, but the Scizor quickly sped up and swept its leg around, nailing Nile as he made contact with the ground. Then, the Scizor dashed forward and kneed Nile as he tried to stand up, sending him tumbling backwards once again.

"Nile, use Water Gun!"

Nile shot up to his feet and inhaled, but before he could use his attack, the Scizor moved even faster than before and swept its closed claw along the ground, upper-cutting Nile, launching him into the air. But the Scizor wasn't done: It then swung its other claw downward and smashed into Nile while he was still in the air, sending him straight to the ground.

"Nile, no!" I shrieked, still panicking.

The Scizor then quickly dashed backwards before it lunged forwards, a claw ready to go as Nile tried to stand.

"Nile, dodge it! Don't try to stop it! Just run!" I yelled.

But Nile didn't run—he did something else. Nile's eyes flared open, and he threw his fist downward, knocking the vicelike claw straight into the ground in front of him. All the occupants of the room gasped at the sight. The Scizor looked shocked as well at the sight of the little reptile deflecting its attack.

I looked at Nile's eyes and saw that they weren't normal—they were driven and determined. I could see a fire in those eyes that I've never seen before.

"Scizor, use Metal Claw!" ordered Bugsy.

In retaliation, the Scizor thrust its other claw forward. Nile roared and caught the claw with his hands, holding it open. The Scizor tried to crush his claw around Nile, and it slowly started to inch closer to him. Closer and closer the claw moved towards Nile to finish him, but after it was only mere inches away from him, it stopped. For a moment nothing happened, as neither side budged. Then, the claw moved back.

"What?!" Bugsy exclaimed as he saw Nile push back the Scizor's bear trap-like claw.

"Nile?" I said in shock as I paused to take in what I was witnessing. "Nile, keep going! Don't stop! You can do it!" I yelled, cheering Nile on.

How was Nile doing this? Where was this strength coming from? It didn't matter; somehow, Nile was doing it, and he needed me to cheer him on.

"Nile, you can do it!" cheered Lyra.

"Come on, Nile! I believe in you—keep going!" I yelled.

Nile gritted his teeth and took a step forward, pushing the massive bug backwards. He took another step and pushed it further. The Scizor was digging its clawed feet into the ground, desperately trying to push back, but failing. Then, suddenly, Nile smirked at the Scizor.

What happened next, no one saw coming. Nile roared loudly as a strange aura of water started to swirl around Nile's feet. Nile's skin then started to give off a dim, glowing haze that rose off him like steam.

"Nile?" I said in disbelief.

"Gold, what's happening to him?" asked Lyra.

"No way . . . !" exclaimed Bugsy.

Nile's entire body suddenly began to glow bright white as the water beneath his feet rose up and engulfed him in a swirling egg shape. From within the swirling mass of water, Nile's glowing form began to change shape. His body became taller, his jaws grew larger, and the spikes on his back lengthened. Suddenly, the water around him dispersed and revealed Nile's new form.

"No way—he evolved into a Croconaw!" Bugsy said in disbelief.

"Nile evolved!?" I said in utter disbelief.

I had never seen a Pokémon evolve before. I knew that they could, but I never saw it with my own eyes, up until now. It was an incredible sight, one I would never forget. Nile stood a chance now.

Nile, with his new form, let loose a powerful roar at the Scizor, whose claw was still in Nile's grasp. The Scizor's eyes widened at what had just happed before it. The newly-formed Croconaw grinned a toothy grin and twisted the Scizor's arm, pulling the insect towards him. Nile then smashed his elbow in the Scizor's face, throwing it backwards. Nile could do it now—Nile could win!

"Nile, let's do this! Use Water Gun and follow up with a Tackle!" I ordered with newfound courage.

Nile growled and dashed forward as he fired off jets of water the struck the Scizor, sending him tumbling across the grass.

"Things just got interesting! Scizor, use Double Team!" ordered Bugsy.

The Scizor quickly jumped to its feet and started vibrating at intense speeds. Then, copies of it started to spread across the battlefield. Nile stopped in his tracks and spun around looking at all the copies that surrounded him.

"Nile, stay on your guard! Those are just fakes—only one of them is real!" I said, remembering my research.

"Scizor, use Fury Cutter!"

The clones drew closer to Nile, and they all dove in to attack. However, Nile somehow knew which one was the real one, and spun around to grab its arm, driving it into the ground once again.

The clones dispersed as the real one tried to quickly free its claw from the ground. Before it could, Nile smashed into the red insect and plowed it across the field with his newfound strength.

"Nile, use Bite!" I instructed.

As Nile pushed the Scizor, he opened his jaws and clamped down across the insect's body. Unfortunately, it did nothing, and the Scizor retaliated by nailing him in the gut, forcing Nile to release his hold. The steel insect then spun around and tried to slice at Nile.

"Nile, deflect it and use Bite again!"

The Croconaw quickly smashed the claw to the side with his arms and tackled the bug. Once again, Nile chomped down on the Scizor's steel armor. Again nothing happened, but Nile wouldn't give up, and he continued to chomp away at the armor. The clang of teeth and metal echoed across the room as Nile tried desperately to inflect any form of damage.

"Ha, nice try, Gold, but that won't work—even with your Croconaw's new strength, he'll never be able to . . ." Bugsy's smug tone faded as he was faced with a sound he never imagined he'd hear.

CRACK!

The sickening sound of cracking metal filled the room as the scarlet armor beneath Nile's jaws fissured.

"What! Impossible! Scizor!" yelled Bugsy as he dropped his net.

"Nile, quickly—attack the cracked armor!"

Nile swung his head around and launched the Scizor across the field. The Scizor tried to get up, but was quickly pinned to the ground as Nile jumped on top of him. The Croconaw then unleashed a barrage of punches into the cracked portion of the Scizor's armor, and he wouldn't let up until the scarlet bug finally collapsed in an exhausted heap. Nile threw his arms up into the air and roared in triumph as he got off the armored bug.

"Nile, you did it!" I bellowed, running up to him.

I kneeled down and gave him a hug, noticing just how tall he was now: His head came up to the top of my gut when I stood. I also noticed that his belly was now speckled with yellow spots.

"Gold, that was amazing! And same goes to you, Nile!" applauded Lyra, who ran up to congratulate us.

Bugsy returned his Scizor and walked over to me.

"I honestly can't believe it. Gold, you have an unbelievably strong Pokémon there," he said. "Anyone who can train a Pokémon capable of breaking a Scizor's armor is worthy of having this." Bugsy held out a round Badge with ladybug design on it.

"This is the Hive Badge, and here is your prize—you've earned them," he added, holding out a check with his other hand.

I stood up to claim my prizes and said, "Thank you very much, Bugsy."

"I can see now why Team Rocket lost to you—your Pokémon believe in you, and in turn they fight to their fullest. Especially Nile, here—it's because of you he was able to evolve and win this fight. I have to say, that was the best battle I had in long time," he said, shaking my hand.

"Looks like I'm going to have to put Scizor back on that high-iron diet again." He chuckled to himself.

"Yeah. I guess so . . . hey, um, before we leave, can I ask you something?" I mumbled.

"Sure, shoot."

"Are there any Contests held in Azalea town? 'Cause Lyra is a Coordinator, and we need to know where more Contests are held."

"Oh yeah, thanks for remembering that, Gold. Yeah, Bugsy, are there any held here?" chimed in Lyra.

"Sorry, Azalea doesn't hold any contests—you'll want to head to Goldenrod City. They have a massive Contest Hall for you there, second largest in Johto, in fact," he told Lyra.

"Oh, and there's a Gym there for you, too," he added, turning to me.

"Hey, my grandparents live just outside of Goldenrod!" Lyra said excitedly. "Hey, Gold, you wanna meet them?" she asked, turning to me.

"Um, sure, I'd love to," I said.

We continued to talk to Bugsy for a while, and I asked many questions about Pokémon Evolution and how it happens. Unfortunately, he told me that every Pokémon is different, and the same methods won't always work. Our conversation was then cut short as that Yanma from before zipped by.

"Ah-ha, there you are! Well, I'll see you two later—hope we meet again!" said Bugsy as he lifted his net and went after the Pokémon.

"All right then, I guess that's our cue to leave. Come on, Nile, let's go," I said as I turned to Nile.

Nile just stood there for a second before he fell backwards and passed out.

Lyra giggled. "Looks like Nile needs a nap after that evolution. Let's take him to the Pokémon Center before we head out," she said as I returned Nile.

Before we left, I grabbed my sweatshirt and shook a few bugs off it before placing my new Badge next to my other one. We then left the Gym and went back to the Pokémon Center to drop Nile and Merlin off. It was about lunchtime when we got there, so we left to grab a bite to eat while we waited for the nurses to work their magic.

A few people recognized us while we were at the fast-food joint, though, and I once again found myself scratching the back of my neck whenever they talked to us. I have to stop doing that. I wish I wasn't so shy around other people. I've been getting better since I was ten, like sometimes talking to just one person can be easy for me, and even talking to adults is pretty easy, too, but groups of kids my age just get to me. The only person I can talk to without any problems is probably Lyra.

To be completely honest, even with my improvements, I'm surprised that I even have a real friend, especially a friend as great as Lyra. I can't believe how lucky I am that I met her. I wish I could remember the day I met her, though; we've hung out so much that the memory of that day just kind of faded away. I wish I could remember what I did that made her want to be my friend, because I was pretty pathetic back then. I mean, I was a ten-year old-boy who had never had a friend in his life because I was a shut-in who just played on my Gameboy and read books.

While I'm on the subject of myself, I began to think again about my unusual habit of becoming bolder than I normally am. Like whenever Lyra and I are in trouble, somehow I'm able to take control of the situation and get us out of it. I've also noticed that I'm able to think with a very tactical mind when I'm in the middle of a battle, but for some reason I can't think like that when I'm just talking to other people, and I just get tensed up. It's like I'm a different person.

It's funny, now that I think about it: Nile and I aren't that different from each other. We're both shy of others, and when we are challenged we become like different people. I wish I could be that person I turn into. It's almost as if the way I am right now is Ethan, and the other me is Gold, the version of me that's brave, strategic, bold, and strong. Why can't I be Gold all the time? Why can't I?

"Hey, Goldy boy, you okay? You look like you've got something on your mind."

I snapped out of my thoughts and found myself at the table of a fast-food joint that I vaguely remember entering.

"Oh, sorry, um, were you saying something, Lyra? I was—I was thinking about something, and I guess I just kinda, um, zoned out," I murmured nervously, scratching the back of my neck.

Damn it Ethan, again with the neck-scratching!? Stop doing that! Wait, why am I calling myself Ethan like it's some kind of insult? That's weird.

"What were you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about how glad I am that you're my friend . . . wait. I mean, uh—!" I panicked, quickly realizing that's not at all what I wanted to say as my face started to blush a bit.

Smooth Ethan, you can't even talk to your best friend without sounding awkward. You can't just say stuff like that out of blue, you idiot! Wait, did I just do it again? Why am I using that name to insult myself?

"Really? . . . Well, I'm also really glad that you're my friend, too," she replied cheerfully.

Okay, that went better than I expected, considering I just said that last statement out of nowhere without really thinking.

"You are?" I asked.

"Well of course I am; why wouldn't I be? You're my best friend. Besides, you're the only guy I can electrify during a shower and get away with it." She giggled, smiling back at me.

I couldn't help but laugh when she said that, and she in turn laughed as well.

"Well, um, anyway, I think we should head back to the Center. I'm pretty sure that the nurses are done now," I attested, getting up from the table with Lyra following me.

As we got up, I couldn't help but wonder why I was calling myself Ethan. I know it's my real name and all, but something about the way I said it to myself just felt like I was . . . well . . . ashamed of my other self. I tried not to think about it and buried those thoughts.

But still . . . am I a different person when I fight?

After arriving at the Pokémon Center, we gathered our Pokémon and thanked the nurses. When we left, I decided to let Nile walk with us to give him some practice with his new body. It's so funny to see Nile in his new form; I was so used to his short posture that it's hard to believe that this Croconaw is the same Totodile from before.

As I was glancing at Nile, I wondered if the scar on his left arm was still there. To my dismay, it was still there, and it seemed to be larger than before, probably because his arm was bigger now, and the scar just got bigger with it.

"Well, it looks like we've got plenty of time to reach Goldenrod today," perceived Lyra, glancing up at the sky as we walked towards the edge of the town.

"Yeah, and what's better is that the map says that there's a major road that can take us all the way there. We should be able to get there in no time," I said as I pulled out the map to show her.

"I hope you like my grandparents; they run the Day Care Center together, and they get to raise all sorts of cool Pokémon," Lyra informed me as she picked up her Marill.

"Well, we'll be sure to meet them when we get there," I said as I smiled back at her.

I was about to say something about the weather or something stupid like that when I heard a voice from behind me.

"Where do you think you're going, you little son of a bitch?"

No . . . not that voice. Anything but that voice—it can't be him. I turned to face the voice of the one person that I never wanted to see again.

It was Silver.


	10. Chapter 10: Gold vs. Silver and a Trip to Ilex

Chapter 10: Gold vs. Silver and a Trip to Ilex

Silver stood across from us, about ten meters out. He stood to the side and stared back at me, his red hair draping over his left eye. His hands were in his pockets, and his composure was intimidating. The grimace on his face was intense and paralyzing.

Nile, standing to my side, stepped forward and growled at Silver, which did little to faze him. He just stood there with hate in his eyes. I was fighting my urge to cower like a fool, like I did back at Sprout Tower.

"You must have some nerve to go around and claim that you beat Team Rocket, you weak bastard," said Silver as he shifted his stance and brushed the hair out of his face.

"Gold, who is that?" asked Lyra worriedly as she stepped closer to me.

"Oh, now you call yourself fucking Gold, too?! You must think that's so goddamn funny, don'tcha? What, were you too ashamed of your own name you had to copy mine to make yourself sound tougher?" he seethed as his eye twitched angrily.

"Lyra, that's the guy I told you about—that's Silver. He's the kid who stole Elm's Pokémon," I said, feeling the fear I felt the last time I saw him creeping in.

"Oh, don't remind me. Thanks to you getting in my way, the fucking cops are constantly on my ass! Oh, the list of things about you that pisses me off just goes on and on," he added in his spiteful tone.

"What the hell do you want, Silver? Just leave us alone!" I exclaimed, trying to sound tough.

Silver, unfazed by my demands, responded, "What I want is for weak bastards like you to stop getting in my way. And how a fucking weakling like you manages to get two Gym Badges before me really pisses me off. What, do they pity you like you're some kind of weak child with a sad story and give you those Badges out of charity?!"

"Shut up!" I barked back at him in a tone that made him flinch.

I'd had enough of Silver calling me weak; I felt that fear of him melt away as I took on a defiant pose. It was settled—I was going to kick his ass.

"I am not weak! I earned those Badges fair and square! And I did beat Team Rocket, and their leader, Proton!"

"Pfft, you're pathetic and a moron. Proton isn't the leader of Team Rocket, you idiot. All you managed to do was scare off a bunch of fucking thugs that hide in goddamn holes!"

"Oh yeah? Well at least I helped people, instead of going around stealing and bullying my way to get this far!" I retorted, looking Silver dead in the eye.

Silver quickly grabbed two Poké Balls from his waist belt, pointed one of them towards me, and said, "Watch your mouth, kid! You're speaking to the future greatest Pokémon Master in the world. And I'm going to make sure that you never get in my way again."

"Fine, you wanna fight? I'll fight you!" I yelled back at him as Nile readied himself and growled at Silver.

"Gold, wait! If he's the one who stole Elm's Pokémon, we should get the police," Lyra interjected worriedly, standing a few feet behind me.

"He'll be long-gone before they get here. And I'm not leaving—I have a score to settle with him," I said seriously as I grabbed Merlin's Poké Ball.

"But Gold, we have to get the police!"

Lyra then paused, looking back at me. She looked worried about the situation, and her eyes implored me, begging me to leave with her. But I stood firm and showed her that I wasn't going to back down.

"Fine, I'll go and get the police . . . you can . . . you can handle him, right?" asked Lyra.

"Don't worry—I'll keep him busy till you get back," I said, turning my hat to the side.

"All right."

She promptly nodded her head and ran off. Before disappearing down the road, she looked back at me for moment, then dashed away. I could tell she was worried about me. But now it was time for me to settle what Silver and I had started.

"All right, Silver, it's just you and me now. Merlin let's go!" I said as I tossed the Poké Ball.

Merlin burst forth from the Poké Ball and flew over to Nile's side, glaring at Silver.

"Pfft, you think you'll last long enough for those good-for-nothing cops to get here? I'll be done with you long before that. Go, Gamma and Beta!" said Silver as he released his Pokémon.

After a quick display of lights, Silver's Pokémon took shape to face Nile and Merlin. One of them was the Chikorita that Nile fought before, and hovering next to it was a Magnemite. The mechanical Pokémon seemed to oscillate side to side in regular rhythm as the magnets on its sides spun around. But Silver's Chikorita had a very odd composure: It looked very distressed, and became a little skittish when its eyes saw Nile.

"Gamma, use Vine Whip, and Beta, use Discharge!" ordered Silver, indicating who should attack who with his hand.

Silver's Pokémon did as they were told and began the attack. The Chikorita, who I could only assume he called Gamma, hesitated for a moment before it closed its eyes and lashed out several vines towards Nile blindly. The Croconaw promptly dodged them with ease by diving out of the way. The Magnemite named Beta hovered towards Merlin and unleashed a pulse of electricity as its magnets spun around at high speed. The pulse surged across the air toward Merlin, who took off from the ground to avoid the attack.

"Nile, it's using Vine Whip—you know what do! And Merlin, use Hypnosis on the Magnemite!"

Looking over at Nile, I saw him nod towards me and shift his gaze back to the stout Pokémon. Silver's Chikorita tensed up and took a step back for a moment, before closing its eyes again and lashing out more vines from around its neck. The crocodilian promptly sidestepped out of the way and grabbed the vines with his hand. Gamma yelped and tried to pull back, but Nile was too heavy for her, and she couldn't make the Croconaw budge.

I glanced up and saw Merlin flying overhead, trying to put the magnetic machine to sleep, but failing to connect with any of his attacks. The two continued to circle each other in midair, exchanging attacks.

Looking back at Nile, I saw that he remembered our strategy from Sprout Tower, but he had to improvise a little. Grabbing the vines with both hands, Nile yanked the stout green Pokémon towards him. The Chikorita's face lit up with fear as she saw the imposing jaws of Nile open wide. The grass Pokémon let out a cry for help as she was dragged towards Nile.

"Gamma, you're pathetic! Delta, use Thunder Shock on that stupid reptile before Gamma gets herself killed!" shouted Silver in an aggravated tone.

Diverting its attention away from Merlin, the Magnemite turned to discharge a bolt of electricity that struck Nile. The Croconaw hollered painfully as his body convulsed, causing him to release his hold of the vines, setting the Chikorita free.

"Merlin, take out that Magnemite quickly, before it fries Nile!" I ordered.

Heeding to my command, Merlin let loose more waves of spiraling light towards the metal orb. In quick retaliation, the Magnemite dodged the attacks and discharged its electrical bolts. Merlin didn't have time to escape, and they were about to strike him.

"Merlin, no!" I said as I quickly looked away, not wanting to see Merlin in pain.

But then I looked back and saw something spectacular. Surrounding Merlin was a yellowish orb of light that appeared to be made of hundreds of hexagons. The electricity arced around the orb, and only fragments of the attack reached Merlin.

"Merlin, you learned a new move?" I said, astonished at this new shield-like technique.

I was further surprised to see that Nile was also surrounded by the yellow shield. Nile looked shocked and quickly glanced around, wondering where the orb that surrounded him came from.

"What the hell is that?" asked Silver, who was both bewildered and angered by what had happened.

I quickly took advantage of this new shield and issued my commands.

"Nile, use Water Gun on the Magnemite, and Merlin, use Hypnosis!"

The duo began their attacks as Merlin flew in towards the magnetic machine, protected by his new shield. However, Nile was stopped when the Chikorita charged forward to attack him.

"Gamma, use Leaf Blade!"

The Chikorita charged forward and quickly flicked her head around to slash its leaf at Nile. The Croconaw, looking down at the stout Pokémon, promptly shifted to the side and twirled around to smash his tail into the Chikorita, knocking her back towards her Trainer.

Meanwhile, the battle raged on above as electricity and spiraling lights danced across the open air. Dodging left and right, the two went at it; but every time the electricity made contact, it was severely weakened by Merlin's shield. Finally, the Hypnosis made contact and took out the Magnemite. Merlin was looking exhausted from the sparse amounts of electricity that managed to reach him; I could tell he wasn't going to hold out much longer.

I glanced over towards Silver, who snorted angrily as he returned his magnetic machine. He then turned to look down at the Chikorita, who was lying on the ground at his side.

"Gamma, you weakling, get back up and fight!" he barked at his Pokémon.

The grass Pokémon looked up at Silver, and was looking very distraught, on the verge of crying. I don't know how, but I could see it in the poor Pokémon's eyes that she wasn't just scared of Nile—she was downright terrified of him, and was practically begging not to fight anymore.

"I told you . . . to get up!" he yelled as he kicked the poor creature.

"This is why you're called Gamma, you weak runt—you can't even win when you have the fucking type advantage!" he growled, promptly kicking the grass Pokémon again.

Silver's Pokémon was crying from her Trainer hurting her. And I was appalled by what I was seeing.

"Silver, stop! What's wrong with you?! Can't you see it's scared and doesn't want to fight?!" I yelled at him in anger.

Silver merely glanced back and sneered at me before returning his hateful gaze at the crying Pokémon.

"You're pathetic, Gamma—get back here," Silver said, returning the distraught Pokémon.

I was enraged by what I saw. How could he do that to a poor Pokémon?!

"Damn these weak Pokémon—I knew I should've just left this to Alpha in the first place," he grumbled, tossing another Poké Ball. "Alpha, show this weak asshole what it means to be strong!" he proclaimed as the Poké Ball opened and unleashed the creature inside.

What formed after the flash of light was a Pokémon that I think was called a Quilava. Its fur was dark blue with a creamy underbelly, and when it stood up on its hind legs, it was roughly as tall as Nile. Upon seeing the Croconaw that stood before it, the Quilava ignited its flames and let loose a powerful roar that echoed across the area.

As I stood there, I noticed that something with Quilava's eyes just wasn't right: They were filled with hate and rage. Before I could say anything to Nile, the Fire-type got down on all fours and charged the Croconaw with intense speed as the fires on its head and tail burned brighter. Nile, with the shield fading around him, was eager to fight this obviously powerful opponent, and charged forward as well.

The two collided and locked hands as they tried to overpower one another. The two snarled at each other as each one prepared for the other to make a move.

"Nile, use Water Gun, and Merlin, throw up that shield again!"

The Quilava's eyes quickly shot up to see the Hoothoot preparing the shield; then he looked back at Nile, who was about to unleash a torrent of water. Silver snickered as his Quilava violently uppercut Nile in the jaw and diverted the Water Gun straight at Merlin. I looked up and saw Merlin get struck by the water, getting knocked out of the air as he plummeted towards the ground, where he was knocked out cold.

"Merlin, no!" I yelled in shock at the Fire-type's maneuver.

Nile was pissed off—I could tell he hated being used to hurt his friend, and retaliated by smashing the Quilava across the face. With Alpha thrown off balance, Nile tackled the badger Pokémon and followed up with a flurry of punches to pummel him. Nile quickly lost the upper hand when the fire badger interrupted Nile's stream of attacks with a blow straight to the gut. With Nile stunned, Alpha was able to retaliate with his own flurry of punches and kicks. It seemed like no matter what Nile did, Alpha was able to match and even surpass him.

"Alpha, use Ember!"

"Nile, Water Gun—go!"

Hearing our commands, the two dashed away from each other, skidding to a halt several feet apart as they both inhaled and let loose their respective elements. The torrent of water collided with a spray of red-hot embers, causing a cloud of steam to rise up.

Unexpectedly, and with great speed, Alpha then dashed forward, parting the steam cloud around it, and kneed Nile in the gut, following up with a right hook into his jaw. Nile gritted his teeth from the blow and socked the Quilava in the side before head-butting the Fire-type. As Alpha tried to recover from the attack, Nile rammed into him and plowed him across the road, using his superior weight to overpower the fire badger.

"Alpha, fight back—stop him!"

Heeding his Trainer's command, Alpha quickly dug its heels into the ground and skidded along until he stopped Nile dead in his tracks. The Croconaw snarled angrily as he struggled to push his opponent back. The fires on the Quilava's head and tail raged as it took a step forward, pushing Nile backward. Then, it violently grabbed Nile's scarred arm and twisted it before kicking him backwards.

"Alpha, use Flame Wheel!"

Silver's Pokémon dashed backwards and got on all fours. Its flames raged as its body was quickly enveloped by a veil of intense fire, and it began to rapidly spin, charging Nile.

"Nile, use Water Gun!"

Nile quickly shot up to his feet and let loose a torrent of water towards the fiery wheel. When the two attacks collided, massive jets of steam rose up as a sizzle echoed across the area. The steam spread across the road, enveloping both Silver and his Pokémon. After a few moments of nothing, I saw the Quilava quickly jump out of the steam and nail Nile with a left hook. Nile was thrown off his feet, and he tried to get up as the steam lifted.

"Alpha, use Flame Wheel again!"

"Nile, look out!" I called out in desperation.

But it was too late—I saw Nile try to get up, only to be knocked back down again by the spinning inferno. Nile tried to recover, but the badger Pokémon was on the attack again as it spun around and rushed forward, throwing left and right hooks. Nile tried to fight back and slashed his claws at Alpha, but his attempts seemed to do nothing to faze the Pokémon.

"Nile, use Bite!"

Heeding to my command, Nile quickly grabbed the Quilava and tried to clamp down on the Fire-type. But Alpha cranked up the heat, and the flames on his back burned so intensely that Nile's arms began to sizzle as the water on his skin turned to steam, forcing Nile to let go. I was shocked by the sheer power of this Pokémon's flames. They were strong enough to repel even Nile, who was a Water-type.

What the hell is wrong with Silver's Pokémon? Why is it so strong?

"Nile, quickly, use Water Gun and douse those flames!"

"Alpha, use Quick Attack and finish off that stupid reptile!"

The Quilava moved faster than before and dashed from side to side as Nile tried desperately to hit the fire badger with his powerful water jets. But it was pointless—Nile couldn't make contact, and the Quilava dashed into Nile's gut. Nile was knocked back a bit, but Alpha wasn't finished as he followed up with a succession of left and right hooks, one after the other, before finally jumping up and dropkicking Nile in the face. The Croconaw was sent flying backwards. He tumbled along the ground before he finally gave out.

"Nile!" I yelled in disbelief.

The Quilava quickly turned to face me and growled as the flames on his back raged. In reaction to the Pokémon's display, I felt the fear from before start to overtake me. I took several steps back before I froze up. The feeling of defeat and helplessness I felt at Cherrygrove returned to me. I lost again.

"Look at you now, Gold," said Silver, walking over.

"You're so pathetic and weak, and now I'll make sure you never get in my way again," he snarled, motioning towards his Quilava.

I couldn't move; I was paralyzed with fear. I just stood there as his Quilava walked in front of him and stared straight at me. I wanted to run, but my legs wouldn't listen. I just cowered in fear over what Silver was going to do.

"Alpha, use Ember."

"No! Don't hurt him!"

Lyra?

Out of nowhere, I saw Lyra dash from the side of the road and stand in front of me. She pressed her back on me and threw her arms to the sides, like she was trying to protect me from the Quilava.

"Lyra?!" I gasped, utterly confused as to why she was here.

"Please, don't hurt him—I'm begging you!" she cried, looking back at Silver. "He's my only friend, please don't hurt him!"

Silver looked at us, his Quilava ready to go at a moment's notice. He paused for moment, as if he was seriously considering Lyra's plea. But then the grimace on his face intensified, and he looked like he was about to issue the command.

I tensed up as the thought of death ran through my head.

But instead of issuing the attack, he sneered at us before reaching for his Poké Ball.

"Hmph, you're so pathetic that you need a little girl to come and save you . . . I've had enough of you weak runts, anyway—you're not worth my time. Alpha, we're leaving," snapped Silver before returning his Quilava and walking away.

I wasn't sure what just happened, and I was utterly confused by Silver's action. I was almost certain that he was going to kill me, or worse, kill Lyra. After a few moments of Silver's absence, Lyra turned around and held me, crying to herself.

"Gold . . . I'm . . . I'm so sorry. It's my fault you almost got killed. . . . I should've stayed and helped you," she cried.

I paused for a second as I looked down at her. She had her face buried in my sweatshirt, and she was crying.

"Promise me . . . promise me you'll never fight him alone again . . . please promise me," she said, looking up at me with tear-filled eyes.

I wasn't sure what to do; everything had happened so fast. I was caught between my feeling of defeat and my desire to say something. So I just let instinct kick in as I wrapped my arms around her and said, "I'm sorry, Lyra. . . . I promise I won't fight him alone," I said lightly, reassuring her.

"I . . . I . . . I should've stayed with you . . . it's my fault," she sobbed.

"No, don't blame yourself. . . . I'm the stupid one for trying to fight him," I said, trying to comfort her.

She buried her face again and said something in response, but I couldn't make it out; it was too muffled.

We both stood there for minute or so. By this time, Lyra was starting to calm down, and I was certain that Silver was long-gone. I couldn't believe it ended like this; I thought I was strong enough to finally stop him. And what's worse is that because of me, Lyra almost got killed along with me. Why did Silver stop?

"Lyra, I think he's gone now . . . let's just go back to Azalea and forget about this," I said as I let go of her.

She just looked up at me for few moments.

". . . Okay," she said, rather upset, letting go of me and stepping back.

She was holding her hands together fairly nervously, and she was looking down. I felt like I should give her some space for a while and didn't try to say anything that might make it worse.

So instead I walked over to my fainted Pokémon and recalled them back to their Poké Balls. Thankfully, none of them looked too badly injured. I couldn't believe how strong Silver's Quilava was, and what was up with the names he gave his Pokémon? Were they ranks or something, with Alpha being the strongest?

After those thoughts lingered in my head for a bit, I motioned to Lyra that we were heading out, and she quietly nodded her head and followed me.

As we walked back to town, neither of us said anything, and even though I suck at reading Lyra's body language, I could tell she still blamed herself for what happened. I wanted to cheer her up somehow—I hate seeing her upset—but I wasn't sure what to do. I myself was feeling pretty low about my defeat, and I wasn't sure how effective I could be at improving her mood. But the silence was getting to me, so I spoke up.

"Lyra, why did you come back? I thought you were getting the cops?"

" . . . I heard that Quilava's roar echo from behind me . . . and I thought you were in trouble . . . so I ran back," she said rather dismally, her head held low.

Wow, freaking brilliant, Ethan, just bring up the incident we went through—no, that won't make her more upset. I have to stop opening my big fat mouth and say whatever pops into my head first. I have to say something else.

"So, um, Lyra, you wanna get something to eat? It's kinda late; we should have some dinner."

"I'm not hungry," she said in a low voice, holding her arm.

Great, this isn't working; she's still upset. Come on, Gold, you're her best friend, it's your job to make her feel better. Come on, think of something!

As I failed to come up with anything, I saw a noodle stand just down the road, which gave me an idea.

"Well, are you sure?" I said, trying to mimic that sly voice she uses all the time.

She glanced over at me.

"You sure you don't want a big bowl of ramen noodles? 'Cause I sure could go for one, you know, with crab and shrimp mixed in . . . ," I said, smirking at her.

She held her head up, and I saw a slight smile peek through.

"Actually . . . that sounds pretty good. Maybe just a little," she said lightly.

"Come on, I see a noodle stand just down the road."

We went to the stand and ordered two bowls, then sat down at a nearby table. We ate our noodles, and Lyra slowly started cheering up. I struck up a conversation with her, and we mostly talked about what kind of Contests she wanted to try out for, and how she wanted to catch some more Pokémon before we reached Goldenrod. She clearly looked happy, and I was glad I was able to cheer her up, or at least take her mind off what happened.

But as we were talking, I couldn't stop thinking about what she said earlier. Was it true? Am I really her only friend? I was almost positive she had more friends. How could she not? I mean, someone like her would have lots of friends, because she's so nice, sociable, funny, pretty. . . .

Pretty?

I never thought of Lyra as pretty before, other than the time we got her a dress. I mean, she's my friend, and the way she looks never really crosses my mind. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't think she was pretty. Now that I think about it, she's actually really cute—everything from her hair to her chocolate eyes to her slim, petite body was cute.

"Gold, whatcha looking at? Is there something on my face?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and realized that I was staring at her. I felt my face blush a little, and I quickly tried to hide it.

"What? Um, no, no, I was just, uh, thinking of something, sorry," I said, nervously scratching the back of my neck.

Great, now I look like a creep. I have to stop wandering off in my thoughts like that.

"Oh, that's okay; you looked like you saw something. Anyway, I'm done, so let's stop by the Pokémon Center before we go back to the hotel," she said, getting up.

"Sure, right behind you."

We walked down the street and left Nile and Merlin in the nurses' hands before we went back to the hotel. The next day, we got up and had a rather uneventful morning, even though I locked the bathroom door before I took my shower. I figured you never know when she might strike again. After we left the hotel, we went back to get my Pokémon before we left Azalea.

We walked for a while down the road, which was rather large and well-kept. The trees on the sides of the road were starting to lose their petals, though, which was kind of a shame. The sky was cloudy, but it didn't look like it was going to rain.

"Hey, Gold, I'm hungry—do you have any food?" asked Lyra, Marill walking beside her.

"Um, yeah, I have some trail mix—here, have some," I offered, handing her the bag of mix.

"Mmm, thanks," she said, grabbing the bag.

I looked back down the road and saw what looked like a construction crew of over a hundred men, accompanied by several Rock- and Fighting-type Pokémon. It looked like they were renovating the road, and several signs were up, stating that the road was closed.

"Oh, come on, really?" I complained, agitated.

"What is it?" asked Lyra, who was looking off into the distance and hadn't noticed the signs.

"The road is closed; it looks they're doing some construction."

"Wait, if the road is closed, how will we get to Goldenrod?"

"Gimme a sec—I'll check the map," I said as I pulled out our map of Johto.

I combed the map for any route we could take. Lyra walked over to look at the map as well, still eating out of the bag. I wasn't having much luck, and I couldn't find a way around.

"Hey, we could take this path through the Ilex Forest," suggested Lyra, pointing to the path.

"Okay, but that'll take us awhile; it's quite a detour," I assessed, shrugging.

"What rush are we in? Don't worry about it."

"All right, if you say so," I said, rolling up the map.

"Besides, a forest will be the perfect place to catch Pokémon," she said excitedly.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that, too—I also need more Pokémon for my team."

"Well, come on, then—let's catch some new Pokémon!" Lyra cheered.

We made our way back down the road, finding the entrance to Ilex in Azalea, and ventured inside. The forest was rather beautiful, seeing as the trees still had some of their flowers—I wonder what this place was like earlier in spring.

I was looking around the forest and noticed that there were all sorts of Pokémon moving about in the canopy. But none of them really interested me, or, should I say, struck me as something I should catch for my team. After a while, I glanced to the side and saw something out of the corner of my eye.

I saw what looked like a girl off in the distance, wearing a bright, colorful kimono—or at least I thought I did. When I looked back to where she was, she was gone.

"That was weird," I muttered to myself.

"What was?" asked Lyra, turning to me as she continued to eat out of the bag of mix.

"Umm . . . nothing. I thought I saw someone, but . . . nah, it was nothing."

"Okay, whatever you say," she said, letting me pass her before she started walking again.

I heard Lyra rustle the bag behind me; she then let out a disappointed sigh.

"Hey, um, Gold? Do you have any more food?"

I turned my head and said, "Wait, did you finish all that trail mix?"

"Um, sorry, I said I was hungry."

"Seriously? That's all the food we had, besides the stuff we packed for our Pokémon."

"What, really? Uggh, I'm still hungry," she whined.

"Sorry, tough luck—that's all we have," I said, turning back to look down the road.

I noticed as we walked that all that talk about food had left me kind of hungry, too. I then remembered that I had a king-sized chocolate bar in my bag. So I reached for it and took a bite.

"Gold, is that a chocolate bar?" Lyra asked, eyeing up the candy.

"Yeah," I said, muffled by the chocolate in my mouth.

"Can I have it?"

"Pfft, heck no. You ate all the trail mix—this is mine."

"Ah, come on, Gold," pleaded Lyra, eyeing at me.

Oh no, she was using those puppy eyes on me, the look that made me do anything she wanted. No, I had to stand strong; she ate all the trail mix—this is what she gets.

"Sorry, Lyra, this is mine," I insisted, smirking before I turned my head back.

"Fine, if you won't give it to me . . . then I'll take it by force," she said in that sly voice of hers.

"Yeah, whatever you say . . . wait, what?" I said, confused by her last statement.

The next thing I knew, Lyra tackled me from behind. I landed on the ground with Lyra on my back. She quickly tried to grab the chocolate out of my hand, laughing all the while.

"I, Lyra of New Bark, demand that you relinquish that chocolate!" she said playfully.

"Oh, you want to play rough, huh? Fine—two can play at that game." I chuckled as I flipped around, trying to get her off me.

She quickly maneuvered around me, and somehow got on top of me as I rolled over to my back. I held the bar over my head as she tried to grab it. I couldn't help but laugh as I watched Lyra's feeble attempts to get the candy from me.

"You'll have to do better than that." I snickered as I quickly hid the chocolate in my sweatshirt's pocket.

As she tried to grab the candy from my pocket, I flipped around again, this time pinning her to the ground. I held both of her hands in place, and I looked down at her as she tried to get out of my hold. It was actually quite easy to hold her there; she wasn't that strong. If I really wanted to I could easily . . .

Oh wow, did I seriously just consider . . . ? Why would I ever think of doing that? That's sick!

Before I could further belittle myself for my dirty mind, Lyra spoke up.

"Ow, Gold, you're hurting me," she said, squirming.

"Oh shit—I'm sorry!" I said frantically, letting go of her.

I quickly leaned up and looked back down at her, worried that I may have hurt her; but that's when her face quickly took on a big grin, and I realized I made a big mistake.

"Ha! Fooled you!" she taunted, taking the opportunity to jab me in the sides and steal the chocolate bar out of my pocket.

She then slid out from under me and stood up to enjoy her prize. Damn, she's clever.

I looked up at her from the ground and said, "No fair—you cheated."

"It's not cheating if you're the one who let go of me. You're so gullible." She giggled, winking at me.

She then laughed some more over her victory, enjoying the chocolate bar before she walked over to offer a hand to help me up.

"God, you're like a child," I said, getting up.

"Hmph, like I care—I still got my chocolate," she teased in her sly voice.

"Well, considering you're well-fed now, maybe we should give Nile and the rest of the gang some food as well," I said, reaching in my bag for the food we got specifically for our Pokémon.

"Okay, I see a spot over there we can sit at," said Lyra, pointing towards a few logs on the side of the trail.

We promptly sat down on the logs and released our Pokémon. Merlin found a nice branch to perch on nearby, since he enjoyed being able to see things from up high. Marill and Teeka happily played tag with each other around the logs, while Nile sat by himself, munching on a turkey leg. Lyra and I were going through the Pokédex together, trying to find out what kind of Pokémon lived in the forest, when Teeka dashed past, stealing the turkey leg from Nile.

Nile got up and snapped his jaws at the little sheep, then tried to get it back. Lyra and I looked toward the commotion and watched as Teeka tossed the turkey leg to Marill, who dashed behind a log. Nile darted around the log and tried to retrieve his meal when Marill tossed it back to Teeka. What soon followed was a hilarious game of keep-away, with Teeka clearly the mastermind behind the whole scheme. Lyra and I laughed as we watched our Pokémon play.

But the game ceased when we heard something growl from a nearby bush. We all turned to face the noise. Nile seemed to take an interest in the growling, more so than us, and dashed forward, hoping for a new opponent.

"Nile, get ready—I think it smells our food," I said, standing up.

My thoughts were racing as I wondered what kind of Pokémon would come out of the bush. It's probably strong, considering that it came here knowing that we had four Pokémon with us. I had a good feeling that I was about to see my new team member.

Nile growled at the bushes as the wild Pokémon stepped forward.


	11. Chapter 11: A Tyrant Falls

Chapter 11: A Tyrant Falls

The Pokémon that came out of the bush was quite anticlimactic. I was expecting something much larger—what stood in front of us was about a third of Nile's height, and, oddly enough, it was pinkish-purple. It walked on all fours and had large ears that were blue on the inside. Its back was covered in spikes, and it had one larger horn on its head.

"That's it?" I asked, a little disappointed.

"Aww, he's kinda cute," cooed Lyra.

Nile looked a little disappointed as well, and shrugged upon seeing the stout Pokémon. The Pokémon responded by growling at Nile, like it was trying to get his attention. That growl was a lot more intimidating before I saw what it was, and now it was just cute.

I noticed that the wild Pokémon was focusing solely on Nile, ignoring everyone else, which was a bit odd. Despite the intense look on the pink Pokémon's face, Nile was kind of lax, and just stood there wondering whether or not he should really bother with this wild Pokémon. Then, as if angered for being ignored, the Pokémon suddenly rushed forward to attack Nile.

Nile just lazily lifted his foot up and stopped the Pokémon in its tracks without really trying. The Pokémon pushed against the Croconaw's foot, but Nile just lightly shoved him off. The wild Pokémon was tenacious, though, and quickly charged again before Nile stopped him a second time with his foot.

"I'll give him points for effort, but Nile's not even trying," I said as I reached for the Pokédex to find out who this attacker was.

After getting a scan of the Pokémon, the 'Dex brought up the section on it.

"Nidoran, male, the Poison Pin Pokémon. It is small, but its horn is filled with poison. It charges its prey and then stabs them with the horn to inject poison. They often live in large groups, along with other blue female Nidoran," uttered the Pokédex in the automated voice.

"Poisonous, huh? Nile, I'd be careful. Watch out for those spikes—they're filled with poison."

"Gold, I think he's got it covered," said Lyra, pointing over at Nile.

I looked up from the Pokédex and noticed that Nile was holding the Nidoran up by the ears, and I chuckled a bit. As it dangled there, the pink Pokémon tried to swing its arms at Nile, but its reach wasn't far enough, and it just swung aimlessly. Nile's eyes were half open as he looked at the stout Pokémon and yawned.

"So, is it trying to bore him to death or something?" Lyra joked.

"I don't know; I wonder if it has any idea how strong Nile really is. 'Cause Nile can pretty much sweep the floor with him at this point, if he wanted," I said as I sat back down on the log. "Nile, you can let him go back to the woods."

Nile glanced back at me before he rather rudely tossed the Nidoran back into the bushes, then walked back towards us. Before Nile could reach us, the stout Pokémon was on the attack again, this time tackling Nile in the back while he wasn't looking, causing him to stumble.

"Wow, he's not giving up," commented Lyra as she sat back down.

Nile turned to face the Nidoran and hissed like a gator.

"Nile, don't hurt the little guy—go easy on him," I said as Nile and the Nidoran started to fight.

"Hmm, let me know when they're done." Lyra turned around to lay her back on the log, throwing her legs across my lap. She then tilted her hat over her eyes, crossing her arms behind her head. I'll be honest when I say that I felt a little nervous by Lyra's sudden action, but I didn't say anything. I glanced back up to see how Nile was doing, and I noticed that all of our Pokémon were watching the two fighting.

The Nidoran charged again, and Nile reacted by stepping to the side and sweeping his tail at him. The stout Pokémon jumped over the tail and turned, skidding across the dirt path. It then charged once more, but Nile swiped his hand at the Nidoran , grabbing it by the ears again. He held the Pokémon up and gave a rather bored look.

"I think Nile's done," I said, nudging Lyra.

She turned her head to the side and lifted her hat to see the Nidoran trying to swipe his hands at Nile.

"What, already? Oh, wow, he's still going at it. Jeez, he's tenacious," she noted as she shifted back into a sitting position.

"Well, I think we should head out now. Nile, can you take care of the Nidoran , please?" I requested, getting up.

Nile nodded towards me and looked back at the feisty Nidoran . He promptly head-butted the Nidoran , just hard enough to incapacitate it instead of really hurting it. Nile then walked over to the log we were sitting on and laid the unconscious Nidoran on it.

"Okay, with that taken care of, we can get going," I said, getting up from the log and tightening the strap of my backpack.

"Right behind you. Come on guys, let's go," Lyra said to our Pokémon.

Merlin left the tree he was perched in and landed on my shoulder as the rest of us started walking down the path again.

"So, Lyra, you have any ideas of what Pokémon you want to catch?" I asked as I handed her the Pokédex.

"Umm, I was thinking of a Bug-type or something."

I cocked an eyebrow at her, perplexed by what she just said. "Wait, I thought you didn't like bugs?"

"I said I didn't like spiders—that doesn't mean I don't like bugs," she said, scrolling through pages of Pokémon on the 'Dex. "Besides, bugs are considered by many to be really cool, so I hoped to get one for the Cool category in Contests."

"Okay . . . that makes sense, I guess. Anyone in particular?"

"I was thinking of getting a Yanma—I think they're kinda cute." She giggled to herself.

"Okay, I'll be on the lookout for one," I said, looking back down the thin path.

We then came around a bend in the path and saw something rather odd. There was a tree in front of us whose leaves and flowers were all withered and dry, and the trunk was swollen around what looked like a hole that was made in it.

"What happened to this tree? It looks like it just died yesterday," Lyra observed, looking up at the branches that hung over us.

"And what's up with that trunk?" I asked, pointing at the swollen portion.

"I wonder what caused that," Lyra muttered, taking a closer look.

"Hmm, beats me." I shrugged.

We stood there examining the tree for a little longer before we got bored and continued on our way. It was a little past lunch now, and we were both waiting for something to happen. In my boredom, I pulled out my Pokédex and started a game of Tetris; but I was interrupted when I heard a familiar growl. I looked up from the screen of falling polygons and saw the Nidoran from before standing in the middle of the path.

"It's that Nidoran again," Lyra said, pointing at the stout Pokémon.

"Jeez, this guy doesn't know when to quit," I said as I motioned towards Nile.

Nile stepped forward, eagerly cracking his knuckles.

"Whoa, take it easy there—I know you like to fight, but there's no need to be—"

I was suddenly cut short when the Nidoran dashed down the path with incredible speed, ramming into Nile just as he was about to crack the knuckles on his other hand, sending him tumbling between Lyra and me.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed as Lyra and I dashed to the sides to avoid Nile.

Nile sat up, bewildered by what had just happened. He rubbed dirt off his face and shot up to his feet, hissing again at the Nidoran .

"Oh my God, how'd it do that!?" Lyra said, looking at the Nidoran .

Nile dashed towards the stout Pokémon and kneed it, grabbing it by the ears again. The Nidoran looked pissed that he was being held by the ears again and tried to flail his arms at Nile.

"Does he have any idea how strong Nile is? Why does he keep attacking him?" I asked, scratching my head.

"Oh, I can assure you that he's fully aware of how strong your Croconaw is," said the voice of some girl.

"Huh?" Lyra and I both turned towards the voice, looking down the path.

I was shocked to see that the girl in the kimono I saw from earlier was walking down the path towards us. The dress she wore was mostly orange, with lavish pink and cyan designs sewn into it. Her black hair was up in a bun, and she had amber-colored eyes. Her face wore a rather dismal expression, but she looked like she was trying to hide it.

"Look, I'm sorry to barge in. My name is Naoko," introduced the girl as she walked up to us.

"Um, hi, I'm Gold, and this is Lyra. Is that your Nidoran ?" I questioned, motioning towards the dangling beast.

"Oh, no, he's not mine—I just know him. I'm terribly sorry that he's bothering you, though," Naoko apologized.

"So, what's its deal, then? You said it was fully aware of Nile's strength, so why is it trying to attack him?" Lyra asked, confused.

"Well, you see, um . . . it's 'cause he desperately wants to fight strong foes. If he doesn't, he'll never become strong enough to fight Tsar," informed Naoko rather dismally.

"Tsar?" I asked.

"Who's Tsar?" Lyra asked.

"Well, um, Tsar is the Nidoking that rules this forest, and that Nidoran there is Tsar's brother."

"Hold on a sec—why would he need to fight his brother?" I asked, even more confused than before. Naoko sighed.

"It's a long story. If you want to hear it, then I need to show you something before I tell you," Naoko said as the dismal look became more apparent on her face.

"You can just tell us what it is," pressed Lyra.

"No—this is something you need to see," Naoko murmured in her dismal tone as she turned around and walked down the path.

Considering that I was very intrigued to find out what was going on, I didn't hesitate to follow. Lyra and the rest of our Pokémon promptly followed along, Merlin perched on my shoulder and Nile still holding the Nidoran by the ears. It didn't take long to reach the destination; I saw Naoko standing at the end of the path, looking off into the distance.

"Okay, Naoko, what was it that you needed to . . . show . . .?" I asked as I stopped dead in my tracks.

What lay in front of me was a couple acres of barren land. There were almost no trees left, and the soil was black—it looked like a scar had been gouged into the forest. What little plant life remained was either dead or dying. At first I thought it was a fire, but there wasn't any charcoal or ashes; instead, the vegetation looked withered and dry, just like the tree we saw before, but worse. As Lyra walked up from behind, she gasped at the sight.

"What happened here?" I asked.

"This is Tsar's doing—he used his powerful toxins to destroy this portion of the forest," Naoko informed.

"This forest has always been ruled by a Nidoking and Nidoqueen, one after the other. The previous one died recently, and he had only two sons: Tsar and that Nidoran there," she said, pointing at the ever-persistent Pokémon that Nile was growing tired of holding. "Tsar has a nasty attitude, and when it recently found a Moon Stone and evolved, things got worse. Unlike his father, this Nidoking is reckless and a tyrant. That Nidoran has been bullied and beaten by Tsar so much, it swore to become stronger and beat his brother in order to stop the abuse that Tsar dishes out on his family and everything around him."

"Really? That poor Pokémon," Lyra said sadly.

"Unfortunately, if Tsar isn't stopped soon, I fear that more of the forest or even Azalea will fall to his deadly toxins," added Naoko.

Lyra and I stood there, looking at the dying portion of forest. I had no idea a Pokémon could do something like this. After a while, Naoko turned to us and said, "Look, I know I just met you two, and this is asking a lot, but can I ask for your help in finding Tsar and kicking him out before things get worse?"

"Wait, you want us to stop it?!" Lyra and I exclaimed simultaneously.

"Tsar only evolved about a week ago—he's still weak compared to a full-grown, bull Nidoking, and if you two help me, we can stop him before he becomes too strong. Please—I'm afraid he'll attack a nearby town soon," she pleaded.

My first instinct was to say no, considering I just saw what Tsar could do. But I couldn't shake that primal urge I have to do the right thing. Perhaps I should go back and tell the police about this, maybe they can . . . oh wait, that's right—they suck at their jobs. I guess that leaves me with only one option. I looked to my side and saw that Lyra was waiting for my response. I then looked back at Naoko and pushed past my instincts.

"All right . . . you can count on me—I'll help you dethrone that tyrant," I said with determination. "Lyra, you gonna back me up? I could use your help."

She paused for a second before nodding.

"Okay, we'll help you. So what should we do?" I asked Naoko.

"First, we need to find Tsar."

"Sounds easy enough," I replied.

"What should we do about this Nidoran ?" Lyra asked

"He will most likely be joining us, but I fear he won't be of much help," said Naoko.

The Nidoran snorted rather loudly at the kimono girl for implying that he was weak.

"Don't get mad—these two trainers have agreed to help you," said Naoko, who walked over and leaned down to talk to the Nidoran .

For the first time since I saw that pink Pokémon, it finally stopped trying to get at Nile and calmed down. But that determined look never left his eyes as he dangled there; in fact, he looked a little pissed off. But seeing as the Nidoran finally gave up on attacking, I figured Nile could let go of him.

"Nile, you can put him down, now," I instructed, scratching his head.

Nile let go of the Nidoran and it plopped to the ground. The Nidoran then turned to sneer at Naoko, like it was upset, and surprisingly dashed back into the woods.

"Wait, Nidoran , come back!" Naoko called worriedly.

"Where's he going?" asked Lyra.

"Oh no, I was afraid this would happen," Naoko mumbled.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"That Nidoran 's heart is in the right place, but he's stubborn like his brother—he vowed to defeat Tsar by himself. He must be upset that I asked you two to do it for him. We have to stop him before he does something reckless!" Naoko said as she dashed into the thicket.

Lyra and I, along with the rest of our Pokémon, raced into the woods after her, on the lookout for that Nidoran . Unfortunately, we lost him, even with Merlin flying around, searching for him high in the trees. When we finally came to a halt, Naoko dropped to her knees and looked very upset that he got away.

"Oh God, please, please don't let him do anything stupid," she cried with her hands over her eyes.

"Don't worry—we'll stop Tsar before anything happens to him," I consoled her, unsure if I could keep that promise.

"Naoko, how do you know so much about that Nidoran and Tsar? It's almost as if you've had conversations with that Nidoran ," Lyra commented.

"That's because I have," she replied, wiping away a tear.

"Wait—what?" I asked, confused.

"If you two must know, I can talk to Pokémon and understand them," she said, standing up.

"You can what?!" exclaimed Lyra, who was just as shocked as I was.

"Yes, it's true—believe it or not, my sisters and I can all talk to Pokémon."

"Your sisters?" I asked.

"Look, I know you two have many questions, but now isn't the time. We need to find Tsar and defeat him before that Nidoran gets itself killed," Naoko said sternly.

"Okay, but how will we find him?" Lyra asked.

"Tsar has a foul temper and throws a fit almost daily. We just have to listen for his roars, and then we can find him. But this won't be easy—all of your Pokémon will have to work together in order to stop him."

"But if we defeat him, what's going to stop him from coming back?" Lyra asked.

Naoko reached into one of her kimono's sleeves and pulled out a Poké Ball with a black-and-yellow design on it.

"Once you two weaken him, I'll be able to catch him with this Ultra Ball. Once he's captured, I'll bring him back to Ecruteak City. There my sisters can decide what to do with him."

"Okay . . . I'm still a bit confused, but I'll go with it," I said, crossing my arms.

"Please follow me—we need to hurry. Tsar may be hard to pinpoint, but I know the basic area where he roams. Oh, I wish there were a faster way, but once we're there, we'll have to wait for his temper to reveal where he is. I hope we find him before that Nidoran does."

"All right, lead the way—we're right behind you!" exclaimed Lyra.

Naoko then took us deep into the forest, and along the way we saw several more portions of forest that had been eaten away by Tsar's toxins. I was starting to wonder if what I had agreed to was a wise decision. We walked for what felt like an hour, and it was starting to get dark out. Out of boredom, I pulled out my Pokédex again; I figured I would look up what a Nidoking is, considering we were going through all this trouble to fight one. What I found was quite scary.

"Nidoking, the Drill Pokémon. Nidoking are the final evolution of male Nidoran, but can only achieve said final form with the aid of a Moon Stone. They can grow from six to seven feet tall and weigh up to five-hundred pounds. While most venomous Pokémon prefer to let their poisons do the work, Nidoking can just as easily destroy an opponent by sheer strength alone. Coupled with their strength and unrivaled toxins, Nidoking are a force to be reckoned with," read the Pokédex entry.

"Oh wow—Lyra, you should read this," I said, handing the 'Dex over to her.

Lyra quickly read the entry, and her eyes widened.

"We're going to fight that?!" she shrieked.

"Don't worry, you two—Tsar is still a runt compared to normal Nidoking. If all of us work together, we can stop him," said Naoko, turning back to look at us.

"Okay, if you say so," I said doubtfully as Lyra handed back my Pokédex.

"So, why are you going through all this trouble to stop this Nidoking, anyway?" Lyra asked.

"I was sent here by my sisters to find out who would take over after the last Nidoking died. Unfortunately, I came too late, and the Nidorino Tsar had already found a Moon Stone," Naoko said.

"Your sisters sound pretty important, if they look after things like this," I said.

"They are—we take it upon ourselves to watch over the balance of the Johto region."

"Sounds like a tough job," Lyra said, picking up her Marill.

"It is, sometimes," Naoko said, looking down.

"This is it—this is the area where Tsar dwells normally," Naoko said, stopping.

We all stopped in our tracks, and I looked around, wondering where Tsar might be. I glanced to my side and saw that Lyra had a weary look on her face as she held her Marill in her arms. It's a shame that Marill hates fighting—her Hail ability might come in handy. But if a Pokémon doesn't want to fight, I'll never make them do it, something I wish Silver could understand.

"So, where is . . . ?" Lyra muttered before she was cut off by a deafening roar that made the trees rattle.

We all turned to face the awful-sounding noise, and it didn't take long for us to figure out who it was.

"That's Tsar—we have to hurry!" Naoko exclaimed as she dashed towards the sound.

"Lyra, let's go," I said, motioning to her.

We all sprinted through the woods as we tried to keep up with Naoko. We could hear a large commotion ahead of us that grew louder and louder as we approached the source of the roar.

"What's going on over there?" Lyra asked worriedly.

"I don't know—whatever it is, it can't be good. We need to hurry," I added as we continued to dash through the woods.

We eventually found Naoko standing at the edge of an open pasture. When we ran up to her, we saw what she was looking at. Along the edges of the pasture, there were hundreds of blue and pink Nidoran that were all hollering like they were the crowd at some sporting event. The pasture was scarred with massive gouges in the dirt and patches of dying grass. As I looked towards the other end of the pasture, I saw a Nidoran violently get tossed out from the tree line and tumble across the area. It was the same Nidoran from before, and it looked banged up.

With only one eye open and the other bruised, the Nidoran struggled to get back up on its feet. My eyes were then drawn towards the tree line again when I heard the footsteps of something large. Suddenly, a massive creature broke through the bushes and into the pasture. Standing at roughly five feet tall was a bulky purple Pokémon with large ears, massive arms, and spines running down its back—it was Tsar.

"No . . . we're too late!" uttered Naoko, holding her hands up to her face as tears began to flow. "He challenged Tsar."

Before I could even react to the situation, Tsar let loose a mighty roar as he arched his back and faced the sky, declaring his dominance. He then charged with his head held low to point his mighty horn towards the Nidoran , who was barely standing. The ground shook with every step he took, but the Nidoran wouldn't run away. Instead, the Nidoran charged Tsar with what little strength it had, unafraid of his brother. When the two met, Tsar swept his head around and slashed his horn into the Nidoran , knocking it off its feet.

"NOOO!" screamed Naoko in horror.

"Nile, Merlin, go and stop that Nidoking!" I yelled, motioning my hand to issue my command.

"Teeka, you too!" exclaimed Lyra.

Our trio of Pokémon rushed forward into the pasture to face the tyrant that stood before us.

"Keep him busy—I have to help that Nidoran !" Naoko pleaded as she dashed into the field to help the pink Pokémon.

"Don't worry, we'll keep you covered!" Lyra exclaimed.

Turning to the side, Tsar noticed us along the ridge of the pasture, as well as the Pokémon that were sent after him. He promptly let loose a powerful roar and charged headfirst.

"Nile, watch out for that horn! Merlin, quickly—use that shield from before!"

The Nidoking charged Nile as Merlin summoned hundreds of glowing hexagons that formed shields around Teeka, Nile, and himself. The Nidoking lunged forward at Nile as the Croconaw dodged narrowly, its horn sparking off the edge of Nile's shield. But Nile wasn't out of harm's way yet as the Nidoking swung its massive arm around and smashed into the yellow shield, shattering it.

"Nile, get out of there! Keep your distance! Merlin, try putting it to sleep!"

Nile dashed backwards as Merlin swooped past him towards the hulking beast; his eyes glowed white from within his yellow shield as he prepared the Hypnosis. But Tsar saw Merlin coming and tilted his head back as purple toxins oozed out of his mouth, snapping his head forward and firing a glob of purple sludge at him.

"Merlin, look out!"

But it was too late: The sludge made contact with the shield as a horrible sizzling sound echoed over the chants of the Nidoran that surrounded the pasture. Merlin's shield was then shattered as well.

"Nile, stop him before Merlin gets hit!" I ordered frantically.

I looked to the side and saw Nile rush forward and tackle the Nidoking, ruining its concentration and causing a misfire that landed over in a patch of grass, dissolving it in seconds. The Nidoking then swept around and tried to drive his spiked elbow down into Nile.

"Nile, get back, quickly!"

"And Teeka, use Thunder Shock!" Lyra exclaimed, pointing at the massive beast.

Heeding to Lyra's command, Teeka rushed forward to cover Nile's escape. Her wool sparked as the bolt of electricity arced across the air and zapped the Nidoking. But nothing happened to Tsar. In fact, the Nidoking just cackled at the Mareep as remnants of purple sludge oozed out of the cackling maw.

"Lyra, Gold, be careful—Tsar is part Ground-type, and he's immune to electricity!" Naoko yelled from across the pasture, holding the wounded Nidoran in her arms.

"What?!" Lyra and I both exclaimed.

"Teeka, run!" Lyra yelled fearfully.

Tsar let loose a mighty roar as he readied to attack Teeka. The Mareep was petrified with fear and couldn't move.

"Nile, save Teeka!"

Nile growled loudly as he rushed in to save Teeka, but was stopped when the Nidoking swept its mighty tail around and smashed it into the Croconaw, throwing him aside. Tsar then charged Teeka, with no one to stop him.

"Teeka!" Lyra screamed.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Nidoran jump away from Naoko's arms and rushed forward with lightning speed, straight for Teeka. The stout Pokémon grabbed the terrified Mareep and rolled out of the way as Tsar rushed past them, narrowly missing them. We all gasped at the sudden actions of the Nidoran , who started to run back toward us with Teeka following him. Tsar quickly turned around to charge the two once more.

"Nile, Merlin, stop him!" I ordered.

Nile ran up from behind and grabbed ahold of Tsar's tail, digging his heels into the ground. The Nidoking was stopped for moment as he looked behind him to see the Croconaw. Before Tsar could react, Merlin swooped in and pecked at the Nidoking's face. With Tsar occupied, Teeka and the Nidoran reached Lyra, who grabbed ahold of her Mareep.

"Teeka, thank God you're okay," she said, bringing Teeka up to her face and hugging her tightly.

"Nile, use Water Gun, and Merlin, create another shield!"

Nile dashed backwards, inhaling deeply, and unleashed the powerful jet of water. Tsar was distracted by Merlin, who was pecking away at his face, and was struck by Water Gun full-force. It's a good thing I learned that Tsar was a Ground-type, making Nile's typing perfect against him.

The mighty beast recoiled as Merlin summoned the myriad of yellow hexagons that engulfed my team with protective shells.

"Nile, Merlin's got you covered—go and use Scratch!" I said, seeing that Tsar was dazed.

Nile rushed forward and roared loudly as he threw his fist back, ready to punch Tsar. Then, suddenly, a hazy aura of light-blue mist swirled around Nile's scarred arm, and ice started to form around his fist. He then jumped forward and socked Tsar across the jaw, leaving behind hunks of ice that froze to Tsar's face. The Nidoking recoiled in pain as he tried to the claw the bits of ice off his jaw.

"What the heck was that?!" Lyra exclaimed, acknowledging Nile's new power.

"That's Ice Punch! Gold, ice is super effective on ground, and that move is more powerful than Water Gun! Tell Nile to keep using it!" Naoko hollered from the other side of the field.

"Got it! Nile, you heard her—keep using Ice Punch!"

Nile nodded as he threw his fists to the sides, and they were quickly encased in ice as the frigid, light-blue mist swirled around his arms. The Nidoking, recovering from Nile's last attack, roared defiantly towards the Croconaw and charged him. The two sluggers went at it as each one threw their fists at the other. Nile, being shorter than his foe, was able to bob and weave around most of Tsar's attacks, but Tsar was able to land a hit and shatter Nile's shield. But Nile was fast, and he landed a punch in retaliation, causing the Nidoking to lurch backwards and holler painfully. Nile then jumped up to deliver the next blow, but Tsar wouldn't stand for it.

Roaring loudly, Tsar threw his arm forward, snatching Nile out of the air and digging in his claws around Nile's head. Nile yelled in pain as the ice dispersed from his fists, and he tried to pry the hand off him, but wasn't strong enough.

"Nile!" Lyra and I shrieked in horror.

Merlin dove in to help Nile, and tried to peck at the Nidoking. Tsar promptly swung his other arm around, destroying Merlin's shield, sending him flying into a tree. Tsar, returning his focus to the squirming reptile in his hand, roared loudly and threw Nile into the ground, then quickly stomped on him, causing the ground to shake. Over and over again, Tsar stomped Nile into the ground as the will was beaten out of him.

"Nile, get out of there!" I yelled.

But Nile couldn't move, try as he might. Suddenly, the Nidoran by my side rushed forward and, in the blink of an eye, was charging Tsar head-on.

"Nidoran , don't!" Naoko yelled.

But the stout Pokémon wouldn't listen, and while Tsar wasn't looking, he tackled into the side of the massive beast. Miraculously, Tsar was actually thrown off balance for moment, and halted his attacks on Nile.

I was shocked by what this little Pokémon just did. Where did this strength come from?

Tsar, angered by his little brother, swung his tail around to attack the Nidoran . The stout Pokémon was smashed aside and tumbled along the pasture as Tsar returned his focus on Nile. But the Nidoran jumped to its feet and charged again. Tsar, noticing this, swept his tail around once more. But the Nidoran jumped onto his brother's tail and ran along it, jumping onto Tsar's back. The Nidoking clawed away at his back, trying to get his bothersome brother off him. Meanwhile, Naoko, Lyra, and I were all standing in awe of what this little Pokémon was doing.

The Nidoran then bit into Tsar's back, causing the tyrant to holler in pain. The Nidoking then dashed backwards and tried to smash the Nidoran against a nearby tree.

"Look out!" Naoko yelled.

Before the Nidoking could crush his brother, the stout Pokémon jumped off his back, and Tsar smashed into the tree. The tree snapped at the base and toppled on top of Tsar. Naoko yelped as she dashed out of the way of the falling tree to avoid being crushed. Once the whole thing came down, there was a silence, and no one dared to move.

I looked at the tree and wondered if Tsar was defeated. To my dismay, the tree was lifted upward and Tsar shoved it aside, looking for his brother. The beaten and bruised Pokémon stood before his massive sibling and wouldn't back down. Tsar let loose another roar at his brother as toxins spewed from his mouth. But the Nidoran was unfazed and stamped his foot, roaring loudly as well. However, the roar of defiance was cut short as the Nidoran fell to its stomach. The Nidoking, seeing his brother's weakness, cackled once more. The crowd of Nidoran that surrounded the pasture—either willingly or out of fear—joined Tsar in his mad cackle. I felt powerless to help the Pokémon that lay there, beaten and bruised.

In the midst of Tsar's maniacal laughter, the Nidoran struggled to get back up on his feet, but fell again. This prompted Tsar to cackle even more as he walked over to his sibling, rearing his leg up, ready to stomp the life out of him.

"NOOO!" Naoko screamed as she fell to her knees.

Then, just as Tsar was about to crush his brother, he hesitated when he saw something odd. I looked at the Nidoran and saw that same glowing haze that Nile gave off when he evolved. The haze began to glow brighter and brighter as the Nidoran got back up on his feet. Tsar took a step back, bewildered by what was happening.

"He's evolving?" I said under my breath. "He's evolving!" I repeated, louder now.

All three of us stared in awe as the Nidoran 's body was quickly engulfed by a glowing light, and he grew larger and more robust. The horn on his head became more pronounced, and his ears became more swept back. His snout elongated and his legs became beefier. Once fully-formed, the new Pokémon resembled a rhino, and his eyes were dead-set on Tsar. I glanced to the side and saw that Nile was getting back up from the ground.

"Nile, hold out just a bit longer—that Nidorino needs your help!" I said, pointing toward the newly-evolved Pokémon.

Nile, although very banged up, nodded to me and encased his fists in ice once more. The duo charged Tsar, who in turn stormed towards them. The tyrant's brother rushed forward and dove under the Nidoking's sweeping arm, ramming into Tsar's gut, knocking the wind out of him. Nile then followed up by jumping up and nailing Tsar with a frozen uppercut to the jaw. With Tsar off balance, his sibling rammed once again with all his might into the tyrant, knocking him onto his back. Nile then jumped on top of Tsar and unleashed a flurry of Ice Punches into the tyrant's body before jumping back off.

For several moments, no one said anything as we all waited for Tsar to move. His sibling, along with Nile, stood ready for the tyrant to rise again. But he didn't budge—he was out cold. Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief as Nile and the tyrant's sibling both collapsed in exhausted heaps. All three of us rushed to the fainted Pokémon; I went to check on Nile and the little brother while Lyra went to check on Merlin. Naoko walked up to the massive Pokémon that lay unconscious before her.

"Tsar, I'm sorry, but you have to be put under control."

She reached for the Ultra Ball from within her sleeve and tossed it into the air. A red light shot out from the ball and captured the Nidoking inside. It rolled a few times and clicked.

"Thank God," Naoko said lightly as she reached for the Ultra Ball.

I tended to a few wounds on Nile with medicine from my bag, and then I returned him as Naoko walked over to Lyra and me.

"Gold, Lyra, I can't thank you two enough for what you did," she said.

"Sure, no problem—I'm glad we could help. Even though that fight was way too close for comfort," I responded.

"No, I'm serious. I wish I could do something to show you two my gratitude," she said rather sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it—you don't need to thank us," Lyra assured her while holding Merlin in her arms.

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

I looked to my side and saw the Nidorino start to get back up on its feet.

"So what's going to happen to him?" I asked, pointing to the tyrant's sibling.

"I don't know; I'll ask him," said Naoko, who knelt down to talk to the newly-evolved Pokémon.

The Pokémon looked up at Naoko and grumbled something to her, then looked at me for a moment before looking back at her.

"He says he wants to go with you," Naoko translated as she stood back up.

"What?" I responded.

"He said he wants to get stronger, like Nile, and he thinks you're the only person who can do that for him," Naoko said, smiling.

"Hey, it looks like you found your next Pokémon after all," Lyra said rather excitedly.

"Well, after what I just saw him do, how could I refuse?" I smiled at the pink Pokémon.

The Pokémon gave me a slight but definitely happy look.

"So, do I have to battle you, or are you just gonna let me catch you? 'Cause I've got no one to fight you," I joked, partially.

The little brother shook his head, letting me know he was fine with being caught.

"Thanks. Before I catch you, you're going to need a name, though."

"You can call him Duke," Lyra suggested.

"Duke, huh? I like it. What do you say?" I asked, looking towards him.

He tilted his head to me and murmured something.

"He likes it," Naoko said, scratching Duke's ears.

"All right, then. Well, here's your new Poké Ball, Duke," I said, digging into my bag for a spare.

Once I found one, I tossed it at him. The following red light sucked him in and the ball fell to the ground, rolling a few times before it clicked.

"Well, I should get going. Thank you again for helping me capture Tsar, and I wish the two of you the best of luck on you travels," Naoko said, bowing to us.

Lyra and I bowed back before she waved good-bye and disappeared into the woods.

"Well, Gold, now that that's over with, we should set up the tent soon." Lyra yawned, rubbing her eyes. "Don't forget, tomorrow you have to help me catch a Pokémon, too, so don't sleep late, okay?" she added.

I yawned as well. "All right. I'll get the tent started."

I got out our tent and we started to set up it up. Our tent is rather small, even though Lyra and I still have to pack it in two halves, one in each other's bag, so it doesn't take up too much space. It's funny how organized we are. In fact, Lyra and I used to joke about how much stuff we can fit in our bags when we would go out on our "adventures." Even though we never got that far, considering our moms would always hunt us down before we got anywhere. This then led to me getting grounded, followed by me hating Lyra the next day, only to be dragged into it again by the end of the week thanks to her charm. About halfway through setting up the tent, Lyra asked me something.

"Hey, Gold?"

"Yeah?" I replied, looking back at her.

"Can we . . . make a fire tonight?" she said rather timidly.

"Um, sure, I'll get started on that."

"Thanks," she said, smiling at me.


	12. Chapter 12: Lyra's Shining Luck

Chapter 12: Lyra's Shining Luck

I was awoken by the sound of something moving quickly outside of the tent. Unsure of what it was, I sluggishly got up and rubbed my eyes to see clearer. I looked to the side and saw that Gold was still asleep on his side of the tent, his hat covering his eyes, using his bag as a pillow. I wondered what time it was as I leaned up to look out one of the netted windows in the tent. When I looked outside, I could hear a buzzing sound, and I saw a red blur rush by, which startled me for moment.

"What was that?" I muttered quietly as I leaned closer to peer out the sides of the viewport.

Whatever it was, it was definitely a Pokémon. In fact, it was kind of like the Yanma I saw back at Bugsy's Gym. Excited by the possibility, I went over to wake up Gold.

"Hey, Gold, wake up—I think there's a Yanma outside," I said, tugging on his sweatshirt.

"ZZZZZZ . . ."

I could feel myself frowning as I looked down at my sleepy friend. Gold is so inconsistent in his sleeping habits. Sometimes the littlest thing will wake him up, while other times nothing short of a bucket of water over his head will get the guy to budge. The latter of which I've done to him several times, actually. But seeing as I lacked a bucket and didn't feel like messing with him right now, I decided to let him sleep.

I then saw the red blur out of the corner of my eye again, so I looked out the netted window and had my suspicions confirmed. I was delighted to see a Yanma land near the fire pit Gold made last night. It began to meticulously groom its four wings, using its tail and front legs. Unsure if I was going to get another chance to catch a Yanma, I quickly reached for my bag and crawled out of the tent, being sure to be quiet so I didn't scare the dragonfly away. I then kneeled down and nudged Teeka, who was sleeping next to the tent, to get her up.

"Teeka, I need your help. We're going to catch that Yanma over there," I whispered as I pointed out the Yanma to my adorable Mareep.

Teeka hummed quietly to herself as she got up to her feet, and we both started to quietly move towards the Yanma, who was still grooming its wings. Just before we were within a good attacking range, I accidently stepped on a twig, causing it to snap.

"Oh, shoot," I whispered as the Yanma turned its head, noticing Teeka and me.

The red dragonfly instantly took off, zipping into the woods.

"Oh, no you don't! Teeka, let's go," I called out enthusiastically as Teeka and I ran after the Yanma.

I was determined—I wasn't going to let this Yanma get away. This was probably the only chance I'd get at catching one, too, because Gold's Pokédex said they're pretty rare around here. After entering the tree line, I saw the Yanma hovering over a thin, dirt path.

"Teeka, use Thunder Wave," I instructed, pointing towards it.

My Mareep dashed forward as pulse of electricity shot out from her wool. Unfortunately, the Yanma was faster than I thought, and easily avoided the pulse of static.

"Wow, Bugsy wasn't kidding when he said these things are fast. Teeka, keep trying!"

Teeka's wool sparked once more and unleashed more static pulses into the air. But the Yanma darted around the attacks like it was child's play. In fact, I think it was snickering at me as Teeka failed to connect any of her attacks. I was starting to get frustrated, and wished Gold was here to help me out. But if I went back to get him, the Yanma would definitely get away. No, I had to do this myself.

I looked back up to see the red dragonfly, in the midst of its dodging, quickly zip around an incoming pulse, then charged Teeka head-on.

"Teeka, look out—use Cotton Guard!"

The Mareep receded into its wool coat, but the attack was a fake-out, and the Yanma used this opportunity to dart back into the woods.

"No, come back! Teeka, come on—we have to hurry!" I said, motioning towards my Pokémon.

I dashed once again through the forest with Teeka right behind me. I've spent a lot of time outdoors, so navigating the various bushes and undergrowth was easy, but the Yanma seemed to notice this, and started to fly through areas with thicker foliage and thorn bushes.

Damn, this Yanma is playing dirty!

I wanted to avoid the obstacles in my way, but if I did I would lose track of the dragonfly.

"No, I'm not going to lose you!" I sneered as I felt the thorn bushes scratch at my arms and legs.

While we chased the Yanma through the woods, the dragonfly finally took its eyes off me, and was more focused on where it was going. Seeing this, I figured it was the perfect time to strike.

"Teeka, use Thunder Sho—" I ordered, but stopped in my tracks when I noticed that Teeka's wool was caught in the thorns.

Teeka meeped as she struggled to escape the bushes that ensnared her.

"Ah, come on, really?!" I exclaimed as I turned to help untangle Teeka.

As I aided my Mareep, I looked over my shoulder and saw the Yanma snicker at me before it flew off. I clenched my fist, frustrated that my only opportunity to catch a Yanma just flew away.

"Darn it." I sighed. "Great, it got away. Jeez, Teeka, come on, I almost had it," I complained, giving my Mareep a disappointed look.

Teeka looked upset that she let me down, and I felt bad for blaming her.

"I'm sorry; it's not your fault." I apologized, sighing as I freed my Mareep from the thorns.

I scratched her chin and she nuzzled my hand. Despite her cute affections, I felt disappointed in myself; I couldn't believe it got away.

I guess I should head back to the tent now; I wonder if Gold is up yet. If he is, he'll probably need me to help him take down the tent. Or . . . I think I'll manipulate him into doing all of it for me. Oh, I can already think of several ways to make him do it, too.

I snickered at the thought of working Gold like a puppet as Teeka and I trekked our way back. Despite how easily manipulated he is, though, I have to say he's changed a lot since we left New Bark. He's become a lot bolder now, and he's done some pretty amazing things, too. I knew Gold always wanted to be a great Trainer, but I never thought he would get so strong so quickly. Nile, Merlin, and even his newest team member Duke are all really tough, and Gold knows how to make them fight at their full potentials, too. For being such a shy guy, he's actually quite amazing. It's times like these where I'm really glad that he's my friend.

My only friend . . .

I frowned after that last thought, because I was reminded about the fact that I let the whole notion about him being my only friend slip out. Oh God, that was so embarrassing; I wish I'd never said that. I know that Gold thinks I'm very confident and sociable, but he would be shocked if he knew the truth.

The reality is that I used to be extremely self-conscious, and rather shy, too. I was like that because all the kids back at my old town would never hang out with me because they thought I was weird, and it's always been that way until I moved to New Bark and met him. I've just never shown him my timid side because of some reason that I don't quite understand. It's just that whenever he's around, I feel unafraid to express myself. Hell, I doubt that I could've even performed in that Contest if I didn't know Gold was in the audience.

Well, now that I think about it, Gold never asked me about what I said; maybe he didn't hear me. Oh, I hope he didn't, because I'd rather not talk about my lack of friends with him and just leave it at that. As my thoughts continued on that subject, I noticed that I still had ways to go before I reached the tent—that Yanma took me out pretty far.

Maybe I should take this time to call my grandparents and let them know Gold and I are going to stop by for a visit.

I dug through my bag and grabbed my cell phone, scrolling through my contacts. I noticed that I had a very low battery, but I was pretty sure I had enough for one call.

"Teeka, let's wait for sec. I need to call my grandparents, okay?" I said as I walked to the side of the trail and started the call.

As the phone rang, Teeka walked up and rubbed against my legs, and I could feel little sparks of static as they jumped across my legs.

"Hello?" answered my grandfather as he picked up the phone.

"Hi Grandpa, it's me," I said cheerfully.

"Oh, good morning, Lyra, this is a pleasant surprise. How are you doing, sweetie?"

"I'm doing fine, thanks."

"I heard from your mom that you're participating in Pokémon Contests now, so how's that going?"

"Oh, I won a ribbon at Violet City with my Marill," I proclaimed with pride.

I could almost feel him beaming on the other end. "Oh, that's great, sweetie! I knew you could do it—I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, Grandpa. Anyway, I called to let you know I'm on my way to Goldenrod with a friend, and I was going to stop by the Day Care for a visit."

"Oh, that would be wonderful; I didn't know you were traveling with a friend. What's her name?"

"Um, actually . . . my friend's a guy. . . . His name is Gold," I muttered, embarrassed that I had to clarify that.

"Oh, it's a boy, huh? So, is he your boyfriend?" he asked in a rather coy tone.

"My what?! No, no—he's just my friend!" I shrieked as I felt my face blush at the thought.

He laughed for a moment or two before saying, "Oh, my bad. It's just that you're at that age now, and I thought that—" he explained before I cut him off.

"Look, I'm telling you, he's just my friend!" I exclaimed, a bit irritated.

"All right, all right, if you say so." He chuckled. "So, when do you think you two will get here?"

I sighed and said, "I don't know. Gold and I are trying to catch one more Pokémon before we head out."

"Well, don't take too long—your grandmother and I would love to meet your friend."

"Okay, thanks Grandpa. See ya."

"Bye, sweetie."

"Bye," I said as I ended the call and put my phone away.

Gold as my boyfriend? That would just be weird. No, he's just my friend.

"Jeez, Grandpa, you're so silly," I muttered to myself as I made my way around a bend in the path.

"Wait, this doesn't look right," I said as I noticed the unfamiliar surroundings.

Teeka looked around as well, and she looked confused, too.

"I think I made a wrong turn a bit further back. Teeka, let's head back," I suggested, turning around with Teeka skipping by my side.

As we walked, I felt my legs and arms starting to get itchy from the scratches.

I think Gold has some antiseptic on him; I should use some of it when I get back and . . .

"Okay, this is definitely not right," I said, a bit concerned.

This path looked nothing like the one I ran along when I chased the Yanma. How did I get lost so easily? I mean, I went in a relatively straight line when I ran after that Pokémon, I think. Okay, maybe I can use the sun to get my bearings. I looked up and noticed the sun was rising off to my left, so that means that way was east. Now I just have to remember which way the sun was rising back at the tent and . . .

"But wait . . . which way was that?" I shuddered as I failed to recall the sun's position earlier.

I felt myself panic for a second, not knowing what to do, but then I remembered that I could just call Gold and have him come and find me. So I pulled out my phone and scrolled through the contacts, but just as I was about to make the call, my phone died on me.

"Oh my God! No, not now!" I called out, frustrated, as I put my phone back. "Teeka, you wouldn't happen to know how to get back?" I asked skeptically, kneeling down to scratch my Mareep's ears.

Sadly, she shook her head, saying no.

"Great, now what do I do?" I worried.

I felt panic starting to set in again, and I was clueless as to where I was. Okay, I need to think this through and stop getting worked up. I know Gold would never leave without me, plus it's been a while since I left the tent, and it's rather bright out now, so he's probably looking for me. Besides, I'm probably near the tent anyway, so I should just stay put till he finds me.

"Well, Teeka, looks like we're going to have to stay here till Gold finds us." I sighed as I slumped to the ground and crossed my legs.

Teeka walked over and curled up in my lap. I started to stroke her wool and felt static arc across my fingers. It's a neat feeling when you pet a Mareep, because instead of hurting, like most static shocks do, it actually feels kind of tingly, in a good way.

I sat there for what felt like ten minutes or so, and I was starting to get worried that I couldn't hear Gold calling for me. Where the hell is he? He is looking for me, right? Did he even wake up yet? Or am I much farther from the tent than I originally thought?

As I wondered my situation, I noticed that I felt rather parched and hungry. Gold and I were going to get food today when we reached Goldenrod, but now I'm feeling really hungry, and my stomach growled angrily at me.

Seeing as I couldn't do anything else, I got up to walk around a bit and try to fight off my feeling of hunger. Teeka looked up at me and had a concerned look on her face.

"Don't worry, Teeka, we'll be fine. Gold's going to find us soon. I hope."

But after I uttered those words, I heard a low growling sound, followed by several loud, crashing footsteps. I gulped after hearing that and felt my legs start to shake.

"What was that?" I asked fearfully.

The crashing sound was heading towards me, and was growing louder and louder.

"Teeka, get ready—something's coming," I said, bracing myself for what might come out of the undergrowth.

The sounds of breaking sticks and bushes being toppled over were drawing closer; whatever's in there was huge! Oh God, is it another Nidoking?! What am I going to do?!

I prepared myself to run at a moment's notice; if this was another Nidoking, Teeka could do nothing to stop it. Then, out of the bushes came not the massive creature I imagined, but instead a small, teddy bear-like Pokémon with a crescent moon symbol on its forehead. It looked up at me as it held its finger up to its mouth in a rather cute way.

"Oh, phew, it's just a Teddiursa," I said as I breathed a sigh of relief. "Jeez, you nearly gave me a heart attack. So, what's a little guy like you doing out here?" I asked in friendly voice as I walked up to the little bear.

As I stepped closer, the Teddiursa looked a little scared and stumbled backwards, unfortunately banging its head on a rock. It held its paws up to its head and started crying.

"Oh, I'm so sorry—I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?" I asked as I knelt down to help the poor thing.

But before I could try to calm down the little Pokémon, the area around me got dark. I glanced to the side and saw a shadow that outlined a large creature looming behind. I slowly turned around and saw a massive bearlike Pokémon with a ring pattern on its gut, and it wasn't happy. I trembled at the sight of the Ursaring that loomed over me, and it started to growl, angrily bearing its teeth.

I screamed as the massive bear tried to sweep its arm at me. I dove out of the way and narrowly avoided the attack. As I glanced up from the ground, I saw the Ursaring rear its arm back to swipe at me again, when Teeka zapped the massive bear with Thunder Shock. The Ursaring grimaced as it turned around to focus on Teeka.

"Teeka, look out! Use Cotton Guard, quickly!" I yelled as I leaned up from the ground.

Teeka quickly receded into her wool as the paw swiped her round form aside, into a thorn bush. Teeka poked her limbs out, but meeped fearfully, for she was stuck in thorns. Seeing this opportunity, the Ursaring pummeled Teeka, who was unable to escape.

"No—Teeka!" I screamed as I reached for Marill's Poké Ball. "I'm sorry to make you do this, Marill, but I need your help. Please, just this once," I begged as I released my first Pokémon.

Marill came out in flash of light, and was shocked to find the situation she was in.

"Marill, please help Teeka!" I screamed, seeing Teeka get pummeled.

Hearing my command, the Ursaring turned to face the blue Pokémon and roared loudly. Marill froze up and couldn't move; she was terrified of the Pokémon in front of her.

"Marill, please. I know you're scared, but if you don't help, we're going to die!" I pleaded with her.

But Marill wouldn't budge; she was too scared of the imposing Pokémon before her. The Ursaring charged forward and kneed Marill, sending her tumbling past me. When she landed, my heart sank when I saw that she wasn't moving. I instantly shot up to my feet to grab my fainted Marill.

I had to run somewhere, but where!? This Ursaring would outrun me for sure! I looked around frantically for anywhere I could escape. Then I saw a tree that looked easy enough to climb. That's it—I had to get up that tree! I ran to the side of the trail and climbed as fast as I could; unfortunately, I had to hold Marill in one of my arms, and was slowed down. I didn't want to look, but I could hear the Ursaring breaking the braches that were below me as it tried to grab me.

Once I climbed about twenty feet up, I stopped on a branch and looked down at the bear Pokémon that was attempting to get up the tree, but failing. In anger, the Pokémon roared loudly at me, and I curled up next to the tree trunk, trembling in fear.

Oh God, what do I do now!?

"Someone help me!" I screamed.

But then I remembered that Teeka was still down there. I quickly reached inside my bag and found her Poké Ball. I pointed it towards my Mareep on the ground and returned her. But now it was just Marill and me, and the Ursaring was hacking away at the tree trunk.

As I looked down at the rampaging Pokémon, I heard something buzzing over my head. Before I could look up to see what it was, I felt something land on top of my hat as air rushed past my neck. Whatever it was it had six legs and weighed only a few pounds. I glanced up and saw the cute eyes of a Yanma looking down at me. But it looked different, though: Instead of red, the dragonfly was blue. Wait . . . is this . . .

"A . . . Shiny?" I muttered before I was shaken by the Ursaring's attack on the tree.

The dragonfly on top of my head looked at the bear below and then back at me before tilting its head. After a second or two, it flew off my hat and dashed into the woods.

"Wait! Come back, don't leave—" I pleaded before the Ursaring slammed into the tree below and I almost lost my grip.

I whimpered as the massive bear Pokémon smashed against the tree over and over again.

"Help me! Someone—please!" I screamed.

But no one came, and I felt the tree start to crack and splinter. I squeezed my Marill and prayed for someone to save me as tears ran down my face. Then, I heard a sharp whistling sound off to my right. I looked to the side and saw the blue Yanma from before, and it whistled again, looking off somewhere, and then it flew away. What the hell is it doing?

Then I saw someone come out of undergrowth where the Yanma was looking—it was Gold! He turned his head and saw me in the tree with the Ursaring below me, and his eyes widened.

"Lyra!?" Gold yelled as Duke came out of the bushes behind him.

In response to Gold's outcry, the Ursaring turned away from the tree and glared at him.

"Get the hell away from her! Duke, use Double Kick!" he yelled defiantly as Duke charged the massive bear Pokémon.

Gold's Nidorino dashed along the forest floor, and, upon reaching the Ursaring, he jumped up and dropkicked the Pokémon in its side. The bear Pokémon lurched backward and held its side as it grunted in pain. Duke followed up with a serious of tackles, driving the Ursaring away from the tree. Gold quickly ran up towards the two to issue his next command.

"Duke, use Double Kick again, and follow up with Sludge!"

The Ursaring, in an attempt to stop the Nidorino, threw its arms up, ready to smash Duke. Before it could attack, though, Duke quickly turned around, pivoting on his front legs, and kicked his back legs into the Ursaring's gut, knocking the wind out of it. Then, using the momentum of his kick, pivoted back around to face the bear Pokémon head-on, and pelted it with small globs of purple sludge.

Duke continued to dish out attack after attack until the Ursaring finally gave up and receded back into the woods, along with its Teddiursa. Gold relaxed a bit as the Pokémon left and turned to look up at me.

"Lyra, are you okay? Where are your Pokémon? Are they hurt?" he asked frantically.

"Marill is with me, and I have Teeka in her Poké Ball, but she's hurt," I replied, breathing heavily.

"What about you?" he asked.

"I'm . . . I'm fine," I said as I started to calm down.

Seeing as everything was under control, I reached in my bag and returned Marill. But as I did so, I noticed that all the branches I used to get up the tree were broken and gone. If I was going to get down, I would have to jump.

"Gold I . . . I can't get down—the branches are gone," I said as I descended to the lowest branch that remained.

"If you can't get down, then I guess I'll just have to catch you," he suggested with a slight grin on his face.

"What?!"

"What, you don't trust me?"

"No . . . it's n-not that. I . . . I . . . I just. . . ." I stuttered.

I knew it wasn't that far of a drop, but that didn't stop my head from over exaggerating what it felt like. I have a fear of heights, and I regretted that I even climbed up this thing in the first place.

"Uh . . . um . . . can't you get a ladder or something?" I asked, afraid of how high up I was.

"A ladder, really? In the middle of the woods," Gold retorted to my rather stupid request.

"Look, I . . . I just don't want to fall, okay?!" I retorted.

"Lyra, you nearly gave me a heart attack when I couldn't find you earlier. The least you could do is trust me on this. I'll catch you, don't worry," he said, getting his arms ready for me to drop.

"I . . . I can't. What if you miss me?" I worried, closing my eyes as I cringed at the thought of falling.

"I told you, I won't."

"I . . . I . . . I just can't!" I cried.

"Jeez, you're like a ten-year-old," he muttered softly to himself.

"Hey, I heard that! I'm not a ten-year-old!" I barked at him.

"Then can you please just jump already? You have to come down one way or another."

"Okay, fine, I'll jump, you jerk!" I said as I started to lower myself from the branch I was standing on. "I swear to God, if you don't catch me I'm going to kill you, Gold," I threatened as I dangled from the branch, ready to let go.

"I'm going to catch you, now come on," he said impatiently.

"Okay. . . . Here I go," I said as I closed my eyes.

But I didn't let go—my hands were practically glued to the branch.

"Any day now," snapped Gold.

"Shut up!" I hissed at him.

"Just let go—you'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say! Ugh, fine!" I said as I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath. Then, I let go of the branch.

As I fell, I could feel the air rush past me, and I braced myself for the worst as my stomach dropped and I tensed up. Then, I felt Gold catch me in his arms. He didn't even have to bend over or struggle to hold me up—he just caught me like I was weightless. When I opened my eyes to see, I saw him looking down at me with his vibrant golden eyes as he cradled me in his arms.

"I told you I'd catch ya," he said, grinning.

"Um . . . th-thanks," I muttered timidly.

After that statement, we both just stayed quiet for a few moments. Oh shit, this is awkward. Why does this keep happening to me? Why do I keep finding myself in his arms? Oh God, I can feel my cheeks starting to blush.

"Here—let me put you down," Gold said as he stood me up on my feet.

I breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't see my cheeks and I was able to quickly hide it. As I was recovering from that awkward moment, I thought of something, and I turned to look at Gold.

"Gold, how did you find me?" I asked.

Before he could answer, I heard that buzzing sound again, and something landed on top of my hat. I glanced up and saw the blue Yanma again.

"You can thank him," Gold said, pointing towards the Pokémon on top of my head.

"I was looking for you when this guy came out of nowhere and harassed me to follow it—then I found you," he explained.

"Wait . . . you mean . . . you went and got him?" I asked, looking up at the Shiny Pokémon.

The blue Yanma nodded its head.

"Th-thank you," I said as the Yanma hummed pleasantly to itself.

"I think he likes you. I'm so jealous," Gold admitted.

"You do?" I asked the Yanma.

It gave me a cute smile as it fluttered its wings happily.

"You gonna name him?" Gold asked.

"I'm not sure; what should I call him?"

"How about Drake? He is a dragonfly, after all—a Shiny one, too," Gold suggested.

"Drake, huh? I like it," I said as I reached up to scratch the top of Drake's head.

"Well, now that you're singlehandedly the luckiest girl in the world for finding a Shiny Pokémon, I think it's time we get out of this forest," Gold proposed as he motioned for Duke to come over to him, "seeing as you now have three awesome Pokémon to help you perform."

I nodded and we made our way out of the forest. Before we finally left Ilex, I thought about something that Gold said. He said I was lucky. Well, he's right about that, but in more ways than he knows.

I'm lucky because he's my friend.


	13. Chapter 13: Daycare.

Chapter 13: Daycare.

I was relieved to see that the final stretch of Ilex laid before us, and I could finally get out of here. This place had too many close calls for comfort. and Lyra almost got hurt. I'd hate to think what would've happened to her if that shinny Yanma hadn't shown up. In fact, just thinking about the odds that weighed into what had just happened scare me.

As we were walking, Lyra told me about how she wound up in that predicament and I felt guilty knowing that it could have been avoided if I had just woken up. I was so worried when I woke up and she was no where to be found, and when I found her being attacked by that Ursaring my heart nearly stopped. Lyra's pokemon were in bad condition when I saved her, but luckily I had some medicine on me and her pokemon are alright.

With the knowledge that everything was under control, I saw that Lyra was having fun with Drake who was flying around her head as the two exchanged funny faces.

As I watched those two enjoying themselves I wondered what kind of attacks or techniques Drake knows; what with the upcoming contest's she'll be participating in.

"Hey Lyra?" I asked.

"Yeah." she responded turning around with Drake on top of her hat.

"Maybe we should find out what Drake can do? I mean we're on our way to the second largest contest hall in Johto, so you should probably get all the ideas you can think of now before you have to perform."

"Oh you're right I almost forgot, I need to work on some routines." She said realizing she had a lot of work to do,"So Drake, you heard him, show us what you can do." she said glancing up at the dragonfly on top of her head.

Drake nodded his head as he took off from her hat and flew a couple yards out in front of us. We both stopped in our tracks to watch the turquoise pokemon perform his moves.

"Okay Drake show us what'cha got." Lyra said enthusiastically as the insect nodded his head.

Drake's body suddenly began to vibrate intensely as clone after clone began to surround us in a spinning ring. They then dispersed and flew around the various trees around us. Lyra and I spun around in place as we tried to track the twenty or so blue Yanma clones that flew around us bobbing and weaving around trees.

"Ah cool, he knows double team." I said looking around before I turned to see what Lyra was going to say, but I saw that her eyes were lit up with joy. It looked like she had a million ideas running around inside of her head.

"You look inspired." I commented

"Oh trust me I am. I can already think of so many things I can do with this." she said excitedly, "Okay, Drake show us what else you can do." she added signaling Drake with her hand.

The clones all simultaneously nodded their heads as they all flew into one another until they all came back into a single one. Hovering over the trail, the blue Yanma looked around for few seconds until it found a large rock near the side of the path. As he looked at the boulder he appeared to be prepping himself to do something.

"Hmmm, what's he doing?" I asked tilting my head.

"I dunno, maybe he's going to move the rock or something?" Lyra replied.

Then Drake's four wings began to vibrate and flutter at great speeds causing a loud buzzing sound to echo across the area. This continued for a few moments until finally a loud crack rang out from Drake as a hunk of the rock he was looking at broke off.

"Whoa that was freaking cool!" Lyra exclaimed practically jumping up and down.

Drake turned his head to look at Lyra and grinned as I stood there in awe of what this fragile looking insect was capable of.

"Oh I wonder that move is called? Gold look it up for me." she said enthusiastically as she tugged on my sleeve.

"Sure gimme a sec." I replied as I pulled out the pokedex.

After scrolling through the section on Yanmas I said, "Okay, it's called sonic boom, it's an attack that forms when a Yanma flaps its wings at supersonic speeds causing a shock wave."

"Wow really, that's awesome!" Lyra said as she rudely yanked the pokedex from my hand, "I wonder what else he can do." she muttered to herself, scrolling through the section on attacks.

"You know you could've asked if you could take it." I said displeased that she took the Dex out of my hand.

But she ignored my comment and continued looking at the Dex.

"Hey Drake, can you do bug buzz for me?" she asked looking up from the device.

Drake nodded his head and started to vibrate his wings again. This time I saw waves of energized sound being emitted from him. The attack sounded like a cicada call on steroids and had a reddish aura that pulsed with each wave. It spread across the forest causing the leaves on trees and bushes alike to vibrate and wither.

"Damn that's pretty freakin cool," I commented, looking around at the sound waves, "Lyra, I'm so jealous of you right now."

"Yeah I know I'm awesome." she said smugly with her hands on her hips.

"No you're just lucky." I retorted against her smugness.

"Luckier than you," she snickered with those sly eyes of hers, "Which according to the rules makes me awesome." She said pointing her thumb at herself.

"What rules?"

"The ones I just made up." She replied, taking a step closer to me and smirking.

"Oh yeah, under who's authority?" I said pointing at her smug face.

"Under mine, the one who found a shiny." she said smugly as Drake flew back on top of her hat and mimicked her smug look.

Those two seemed to be match made in heaven ,they both know just how to push my buttons.

I sighed before I muttered, "I give up, you win. Arguing with you is not worth my time." before I began walking again.

"Ha, victory is mine, score two for me." Lyra giggled.

"You're still keeping track from when we found Merlin?"

"Yup."

"Why do I put up with you?" I muttered softly.

"Because I'm awesome." she said winking at me a she strolled past.

I sighed once more before following my smug friend.

It wasn't long till we were finally out of Ilex and on our way to Goldenrod City. We walked for about ten minutes or so before I struck up a conversation.

"So Lyra, what are your Grandparents like?"

"Oh they're wonderful people; I visit their daycare once every summer. My Grandmother is a botanist and grows all kinds of berries, and my Grandfather is world class breeder."

"Wow they sound incredible."

"Yeah but my Grandpa can be a jokester sometimes." she said regretfully.

"What about your Grandma?" I asked.

"She's pretty laid back… but I would avoid stepping on any of her gardens… like seriously don't."

"Oh, what's the worst she can do?" I joked.

"Do you know what Ryhorn is?"

"Yeah. What does that have to do with anything?"

"I saw my Grandma flip one on its back after it smashed a flower bed of hers."

"…"

Lyra laughed as he pointed to my face and said. "The look on your face right now."

"You're kidding right…right?"

"Don't be so surprised Gold, my Grandparents run a daycare so they have to be able to handle any kind of pokemon that might be left in their care."

"Oh wow." I said meekly as I thought of what her Grandfather could do.

"Hey look, I think we're almost there." Lyra said excitedly as she tugged on my sweat shirt.

Lyra then took off into a brisk pace down the road. She was right too; I saw a sign for a daycare center on the side of the road.

"Come on Gold." Lyra said impatiently.

"I'm coming, I'm coming, calm down." I replied running after her.

At the end of the road was a beautiful old house that bordered on the edge of a large field, and right next the house stood what looked like a massive green house. It was hard to see but I could make out all kinds of pokemon in the field behind the house as well as two people waiting for us on their front porch.

"Hi Grandma, hi Grandpa!" Lyra called out happily.

"Hello sweetie." said her Grandfather.

He was a bit shorter than me and was balding, he had a white mustache and beard, his face had broad features and he looked rather tough for being old. Despite his gruff appearance his face wore a jolly expression and he looked happy to see us. Lyra's Grandmother had white hair as well and wore it up in a bun. She was wearing a causal green dress with an apron on top of that. She looked like she had just got back from her gardening because her apron had some dirt smeared on it.

"Lyra, it's so good to see you, how have you been?" said her Grandmother in a cheerful tone, "And who's your friend?" she added.

"Oh, Grandma, Grandpa I'd like you to meet my friend Gold." Lyra said as she walked up the front porch and gestured towards me as I walked up to them.

"Uh... hi" I said a bit timidly.

Oh god am I seriously being nervous now? It's just her Grandparents! Ethan you're pathetic just act cool…Wait did I just call myself Ethan again? That's weird.

"Hey off the grass!" Lyra's Grandmother barked at me.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I said as I quickly jumped to the side and onto the walkway that lead to their porch.

Okay I knew Lyra said that her Grandma was a bit protective of her plants, but her lawn? That seems a bit strange.

"Oh sorry I didn't mean you." Lyra's Grandmother apoligized, pointing behind me.

I turned around and saw a bull like pokemon with several tails a couple yards out. It was grazing on the grass and seemed to be somewhere that it shouldn't. Then in no time at all Lyra's Grandmother was over by the bovine pokemon and grabbed it by the horns.

"What did I tell you about walking on the front yard!" she said as she practically twisted its horns around into submission and pulled the large beast over to the side.

My jaw dropped at the sight; did I just see what I thought I saw? I thought Lyra was just joking, but holy crap! She was dragging that massive pokemon like it was just a minor annoyance. The old lady after returning the pokemon to the enclosure behind the house came back to the porch wiping off her hands.

"Sorry about that, so you're Gold huh? Nice to meet you, you can call me Erica." Lyra's Grandmother said holding out her hand to shake.

"Uh yeah… nice to meet you..too." I muttered shaking her hand, but I was a bit fidgety.

"And you can call me Frank." said Lyra's Grandfather holding out his hand.

"Oh hi Franaahh!" I yelped, as his grip practically broke my hand.

"Oh sorry, didn't mean to hurt ya there, I have a firm hand shake." he said chuckling.

"Yeah… no kidding." I said meekly looking at my hand expecting to see something out of place or broken.

Then as if seeking some kind of explanation of what was happening I glanced over at Lyra. She had a rather weak smile on her face and was holding her arm nervously like she was embarrassed of her Grandparents. Oddly enough Drake was mimicking her weak smile too, it's like the two were in sync.

"Anyway, Lyra I couldn't help but notice that rare pokemon you have." Frank said gesturing towards Drake who was perched on top of Lyra's hat.

"Oh, uh, his name is Drake, I found him in Ilex." said Lyra, snapping out of her embarrassed look.

She then reached up to scratch Drake's chin making him hum in a way that kind of sounded like a deep cicada call.

"Well you're incredibly lucky sweetie, I've been a breeder for over fifty years and I've only seen three shinnies in that time."

"And what a beautiful shade of blue he is." Erica commented.

Drake was practically basking in the attention he was getting and he had smug look on his face.

"So uh Grandpa, you wanna show us some of the pokemon you have out back?" Lyra said rather excitedly.

"Oh sure thing, come on back. Hey how about you let your pokemon out while we're back there, I think they'll enjoy meeting the others." Frank suggested as he started to walk around the side of the house.

"Oh good idea." Lyra said as she let out her Marill and Teeka.

I in turn released Nile, Duke, and Merlin was well. We all walked around the back of the house and I saw a very large area that was fenced off. Lyra and I walked up to the edge of the fence to look at what laid before us. In total I think there was enough space to fit two football fields in this fenced off area. In the center was a large pond that seemed to have crystal clear water. On one end there was a large rock formation that looked like a mini mountain. Next to that was a very flat and sandy area. Then there was pasture of trees next to that. The largest part of the enclosure was an open grass field that took up about a third of the total area. There were so many pokemon in there too; some of which I knew, but most I've never seen before.

"So what exactly do you do here?" I asked Frank.

"Well many trainers have very busy lives and often don't have enough time to raise all there pokemon. So they leave their pokemon in my professional care to raise them. Other times they request me to teach their pokemon moves or techniques that they couldn't teach on their own."

"Yeah in fact, don't people from other regions come here to have you raise their pokemon Grandpa?" Lyra commented.

"Yes you're right, I remember one summer that you spent almost all your time riding on that Garchomp from Sinnoh. In fact I'm currently raising a Roserade for coordinator who is visiting from Hoenn."

"Really?" Lyra asked as her eyes lit up.

"Yes the pokemon's name is De Fleur and his owner is named Kate. She's pretty well established in Hoenn as a top coordinator. Here come with me I'll show you two the pokemon." Frank said turning around.

"Oh, but leave your pokemon here please, Erica doesn't like other pokemon in her green house other than grass-types for safety reasons." Frank added before he went anywhere.

"Um okay, Nile, Duke, Merlin have fun, we'll be back in sec." I said scratching Nile's head before he and my other pokemon went into the enclosure.

"You too guys, we'll be back in a sec." said Lyra as her pokemon ran after mine.

"Alright follow me." said Frank as he turned around again and we followed him to the green house.

Before we entered the front entrance to the greenery Frank stopped for a second like he heard something. Over in the distance was the rumble of a helicopter.

"Hmm, is that a helicopter?" he said looking up at the sky.

"That's odd, they normally don't fly over here. Oh well, sorry for the interruption, here go ahead inside." Frank said as he opened the glass doors.

Lyra and I walked in and saw rows upon rows of berry bushes and trees. They were in a circle formation that seemed to orbit around a large central oak tree in the center of the green house. Sleeping under it was a huge reptilian pokemon with a large head and stubby limbs. It was a pale greenish blue in color and had a large fern growing out of its back. In the center of the fern was a large red flower with yellow spots on it. This was the largest pokemon I've ever seen in my life.

"Oh my god that thing is huge." I exclaimed with a dumbfounded look on my face.

"That's a Venusaur Gold, it's my Grandmother's first pokemon." Lyra said.

"Yes, and her name is Flora." said Erica who had just walked in behind us.

"She helps me promote the growth of my berries using aromas that come out of her massive flower. She also kills any unwanted weeds by using her poison attacks." Erica commented as she walked past us over to her sleeping Venusaur.

"Wow that's cool." I commented

"So where is De Fleur Grandpa?" Lyra asked as she looked around the green house.

"He's up in that tree right now I'll call him over. De Fleur come over here please." Frank called out.

Then from out of the tree that loomed over the sleepy Venusaur came a pokemon that was roughly two feet tall. The small figure jumped from the branch it was on, and landed on the ground gracefully twirling around like a ballet dancer. Its head and arms seemed to made of blue, red, and white roses and appeared to be wearing a mask made from a leaf. The flower pokemon gracefully walked over to us and I could smell a wonderful aroma coming off it.

"Oh wow, he's beautiful." Lyra said as she knelled down to see the pokemon.

"This is defiantly the pokemon of a star coordinator, he's so elegant and graceful, aren't you." she said holding out her hand to shake.

The Roserade didn't return her shake and hide its face behind its blue bouquet of roses as it walked away from her like she wasn't important.

"Was it something I said?" Lyra said confused.

"Oh sorry I forgot that De fleur has quite the ego and only consults with those it considers talented." Frank commented.

"Wait, I'm not talented!" Lyra barked at the pokemon who merely glanced back at her before pointing its nose to the air and walking off.

"Why you, who do you think you are?" Lyra said irritably and took a step forward before I grabbed her arm stopping her.

"Lyra, you're getting worked up over nothing." I said trying to calm her.

Lyra isn't exactly fond of others thinking she's untalented or unskilled. I know from experience that she gets really competitive whenever I make fun of her short comings. Like the time I said she wasn't good at Smash Bros and she spent like two days practicing before she whooped my ass later at it.

"Besides what does he know, I think your talented." I said.

Lyra gritted her teeth before turning around and sighing.

"Alright fine." she said reluctantly.

"Well, uh, I think we should head back out to the yard now." said Frank who was picking up on Lyra's distaste in the flower pokemon.

Before we left the green house Frank said "Actually Lyra, if you're interested Kate said she would be picking up De Fleur later today if you wanted to meet her."

Lyra looked a little happier after that comment and said. "Oh that sounds nice, I wonder if she can give me some tips."

"Well I'll let you know when she's here." Frank said as we left the green house and went back to the enclosure. We walked up to the fence's edge and I saw Nile was having fun in the pond.

"Looks like Nile see's something he likes. Hey Gold you want to go swimming in there?" Lyra asked eagerly.

"Oh I'd rather not, but thanks." I said shrugging.

"Oh come on it will be fun. I used to do it all the time when I came here over the summer."

"I don't know, that water looks kinda cold." I said scratching the back of my neck.

Lyra shot me glare after that comment, but I shrugged it off as I looked back at the pond. My Croconaw clearly enjoyed the water and was having a blast. I was about to say something else, but then I felt Lyra grab the hood of my sweat shirt and started pulling me towards the house, she nearly threw me off my feet in the process.

"Gold stop being a wuss and get in your bathing suit." She said in pouty tone.

I could hear Lyra's Grandparents laughing, seeing what their granddaughter was doing to me.

"Alright, alright, I'll get changed, jeez you're so pushy." I said yanking my hood out of her grasp.

"Good, when I come out you'd better be that water or I swear." She threatened me as we entered the house.

I found a bathroom and quickly got changed into a swim suit that I had packed in my bag; it was black with yellow flame designs on the legs. While I was in there I glanced at myself in the mirror and noticed that the bruises on my back were all gone. I was also pleased to see that I was actually in better shape than I thought I was. My figure was rather lean although it was nothing special.

I then went back outside and walked into the enclosure. I saw all of our pokemon enjoying themselves with the others. Merlin was perched on top of a branch and sleeping as usual. Teeka was having fun grazing in a field with other Mareeps and that bull pokemon from before. Drake was being rather silly as he taunted several Sentrets by flying off with their berries. Why does Lyra seem to attract all the pranksters? Oh wait that's cause she is one, how could I forget.

I glanced over to that small scale mountain at the other end and saw that Duke was involved in some sort of sumo match with a Rhyhorn twice his size. Wow he must really want to get stronger. I admire his boldness, even though he wasn't doing very well, but the rock type looked pleasant enough and I wasn't too worried about him. Marill was swimming along with Nile in the pond. As I made my way towards the pond I saw Lyra's Grandfather feeding a horse like pokemon with a flaming mane, which I think was called a Ponyta.

"It's nice to see you decided to go swimming with her." Frank said.

"Yeah I wouldn't say I decided, more like forced." I joked.

"Yeah she can be a bit pushy sometimes." Frank chuckled.

"Tell me about it." I said walking up to the edge of the pond and looked for Nile.

Nile seems to have already made friends with several other water types like a Goldeen and a Tentacool among others. Since when was Nile so sociable? Maybe it's just people he doesn't like?

I stood at the edge of the pond and was a bit hesitant to get in, it's that stupid feeling you get where you're afraid of how cold the water might be. But then I felt someone push me and I fell into the water face first.

The water was actually not that bad; in fact it was rather refreshing. But the cool feeling of the water didn't make me forget about being pushed in. I shot to the surface in search of who pushed me in.

"Okay who has the nerve?" I said wiping my dark blue hair out of my eyes.

Then I saw Lyra standing at the edge of the pond who was laughing hysterically. But what caught my eye wasn't her snickering face, but rather the fact that she was wearing a bikini. Wait… since when does Lyra wear bikinis? On those rare occasions we've actually gone swimming together she's always worn a one piece. The one she was wearing right now was dark green and it really showed off her slim figure. I couldn't take my eyes off her.

"So how's the water Gold?" Lyra said tilting her head.

"Oh uh, it... it's nice." I muttered timidly looking away from her.

This was a first for me, I've never seen her in a bikini before and I couldn't shake that queasy feeling. Damn it stop being such a wuss, she's just your friend!

"Well since you're in already, CANON BALL!" Lyra shouted as she jumped forward.

Lyra crashed into the water and splashed me in a cascade of water. I could hear Lyra's Grandfather laughing off to the side.

Once she resurfaced she said, "Wow, there's all sorts of water-types in here."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Well there's… actually." Lyra said shifting into that sly tone of her's, "Marill come over here, I have a job for you." she said slyly as she started to whisper into her Marill's ear.

Oh god what is she up to now? Whatever it is, it can't be good. After she finished whispering in Marill's ear the water-type dove under the water.

"What are you up to Lyra?" I said crossing my arms.

Lyra just giggled as she lowered herself into the water so that only her head poked out. Nile swam up next to me and looked confused as to what is going on.

"Dunna… Dunna." she said softly.

I cocked an eyebrow to what she was doing.

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Dunna… dunna dunna." she said a bit faster.

"Wait a second," I said as I thought about where I heard that tone before.

"Dunna dunna dunna dun dun, dunna dunna dun dun." she said faster still.

"Okay Lyra what the hell are you doing?"

"Dun dun!"

At that moment I felt something grab my leg and was suddenly lifted into the air as something very large surfaced.

"Whoa, what the hell!?" I exclaimed as I dangled upside down and looked up at what was holding me.

It was a very large pokemon with a bulky build. It had a cream colored belly that resembled a shell with blue scaly arms and turtle-like head. In fact, the pokemon that was holding my leg looked like the mother of all snapping turtles. It looked down at me and grunted lowly.

"Gold I'd like you to meet my Grandfather's Blastoise, Bruce." Lyra said swimming over the giant turtle.

"Uh…hi…Br...Bruce" I said meekly.

The massive turtle pokemon lifted me higher so that my head was level with his. This Blastoise looked prehistoric and rugged; his blue coloration was rather dark and fading, implying that it was rather old. I couldn't tell if it was happy or mad due to a lack of expression on his face.

"Bruce you can let him go now." Lyra giggled swimming past the Blastoise.

But when she swam past I caught a glimpse of her winking at Bruce.

Bruce responded to Lyra's request by turning towards the center of the pond and held me to the side.

"What are you doing Bruce, this isn't putting me down." I uttered fearfully.

Then Bruce grunted out a low chuckle as he then chucked me several yards over the water before I crashed into the pond. When I resurfaced I could see Bruce, Lyra, and even Nile laughing at me.

"What was that for?!" I said distastefully looking at Lyra.

"Because you're so much fun to mess with." Lyra snickered.

"Okay then, if that's how's it's going to be. Nile, use water gun." I said with smirk on my face.

Nile quickly swam over to me and spun around shooting a quick burst of water at Lyra's face. When she wiped away the water she had an astonished look on her face. I grinned back at her implying that we were even. But then Lyra's face took on a big sly grin.

"Oh it is on now." She said as she held up her fingers and snapped them prompting Bruce to look at me dead in the eye.

Then from his back sprouted two large shoulder cannons and pointed one at me and the other at Nile. My eyes along with my Croconaw's both opened wide as we realized the big mistake we just made.

"Oh I didn't think this one through." I said meekly as a powerful torrent of water knocked me and Nile off our feet.

Once again I resurfaced to see Lyra laughing uncontrollably. This time though I couldn't help myself from laughing too. Cause as terrifying as that was, it was actually kinda fun.

"Sorry to interrupt you two, but have any of you seen an Aggron nearby? He didn't show up to get his food today." said Frank who was standing at the edge of the pond.

Lyra and I both turned to face him with the look of confusion on our faces.

"An Aggron?" I asked.

"What's that?" Lyra replied.

"Oh he's a pokemon from Hoenn. He's about eight feet tall, dark grey, with steel plating on his back and head." He said describing something very scary.

"Eight feet tall?" I said in disbelief.

"I guess that means you haven't, that's odd I wonder where he went." Frank said scratching his bearded chin.

"Bruce come here I need your help." Frank said motioning to his Blastoise.

Bruce nodded his head and wadded his way through the pond over to him.

Frank, before he went off in search of this Aggron, stopped for a second when he heard another helicopter.

I looked up and saw the aircraft fly over the head and disappear off into the distance.

"Twice in one day, that's odd." Frank commented before we went on his way with Bruce following him.

"I hope he finds that Aggron soon, whatever that is." Lyra said with a concerned look on her face.

"Don't worry about it's probably just over by the trees or something." I said not worrying.

Before Frank disappeared though he turned around and commented, "Oh almost forgot, Lyra that coordinator Kate is here you should catch her before she leaves."

"Oh really, sweet come on Gold lets go meet her." Lyra said excitedly as she swam to the edge of the pond.

"Alright I'm coming." I said swimming after her.

She grabbed a towel out of her bag which she left at the edge of the pond and wrapped it around herself. I quickly dried off with I towel I had in my bag and followed Lyra to the green house. When we got there we saw four girls in what looked like semi casual dresses. The one in the center, who had the Roserade, had long flowing blonde hair and a designers hat. She wore a sky blue skirt with a green shirt and over that she wore a sky blue vest.

"Wait Kate." Lyra called out running up to her and the other girls.

"Oh, who are you?" Kate said in slight uninterested tone turning to see Lyra.

"Hi my name is Lyra, I wanted to talk to you before you left." Lyra said cheerfully.

"Oh I'm flattered." Kate said as if she was used to it.

"I heard that you're a star coordinator and I wanted to know if you could give me some tips."

"Wait don't tell me…you're Lyra that wanna be coordinator?" said one of the girls.

"Wait what?" Lyra said confused by the statement.

"Oh yeah, I heard she was involved in some crime thing as a publicity stunt." said another girl.

"What?" said Lyra and I.

"Oh that is her, shesh they'll let anyone be a coordinator these days." Kate said smugly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Lyra said in agitated tone.

"You know what I mean amateur." Kate said rudely as her entourage of girls laughed.

"Hey I am not an amateur, I've won a ribbon at Violet city!" Lyra barked at her.

Lyra looked like she was about to do something drastic so I grabbed her by the arm and held her back.

"Oh that's adorable, I've won over forty and I'm going to win ten more at Goldenrod." Kate said smugly as she crossed her arms.

"One ribbon? You're as amateur as they get *giggle*" snickered one of the girls

Lyra paused for second before she said "Oh yeah, I bet I could beat you at a contest!"

"Oh I highly doubt that." Kate said smugly as Lyra gritted her teeth.

Oh no, that competitive side of her was going wild now.

"Lyra we should just go, come on." I said as I tried to pull her away from this, but she wouldn't budge.

"Look if you want my advice, I say you should just let the professionals handle the real art of performing. Trust me don't even bother coming to Goldenrod, a no talent nobody like you wouldn't stand a chance against the pros." Kate said turning around and walking away with her posse.

"Arrgh, just you wait blondy, I'm going to win those contests and perform circles around you!" Lyra barked at her.

"Lyra chill out it's not worth it." I said trying to calm her.

"You should listen to your boyfriend, trust me it's not worth competing against me." Kate said walking away.

"Oh yeah we'll see who's laughing when I beat you at Goldenrod, you can count on it! And he's not my boyfriend!" Lyra retorted.

"Okay then hot stuff, then I'll expect to see you there, don't disappoint." Kate said before she and her girls disappeared down the road.

Lyra quickly turned around and rubbed her hands together like she had a nasty plot on her mind.

"Oh I'll show her." she muttered to herself.

Well it's nice to see that she's still confident after hearing those insults, but I think this might be the first time that she's way in over head. I mean Kate has won over forty ribbons and Lyra has only preformed once.

"Lyra, are you sure you wanna do that?"

"You doubt me? I thought you were supposed to be my support." she said cocking her eyebrow.

"Um eh, no I just think you, might want to…" I said but she shot me a glare of distaste.

"Never mind." I said looking away.

"Good, I'm going to need your help any way." She said walking back to the enclosure.

"*sigh*"

But before we got very far into the fenced off area, Lyra's Grandfather came running up to us along with his Blastoise. He had a distressed look on his face.

"Grandpa, is something wrong?" Lyra said in a concerned tone.

"It's the Aggron, I can't find him anywhere and I'm getting worried. I could use some help if you don't mind." Frank asked.

"Um sure I'll do whatever I can to help" I replied.

"Thanks, I think he may have wandered off into the woods."

"Wait is he dangerous?" I asked.

"Don't worry about that, he's very gentle for his size. In fact, I heard from his owner that he plays with small children at a preschool and would never hurt a fly." he replied

"Alright we should probably split up to find him then." Lyra suggested.

"Good idea, Gold can I have you sweep that area over there, Lyra you go over there and I'll check things out over there. Meet back here in an hour okay." Frank said pointing at each portion of forest we should search.

"Got it." Lyra and I said.

Before we left in search of the Aggron I went to gather my pokemon just in case something happened and so did Lyra. Once my team was assembled I went off into the woods to try and find the eight foot steel plated creature. I had Merlin take to the air to try and find any clues of this large creature as me, Nile, and Duke stood rather far apart to cover more ground. I was out there for what felt like an hour and the day was starting to come to a close. I should probably head back soon.

Jeez where the hell is this pokemon? I wonder if the Lyra or her Grandfather have found him already. But as I was thinking about that Merlin flew over to me and landed on my shoulder. He then turned his head off to my left.

"I guess that means you found something, Nile, Duke over here." I said calling out for my pokemon.

Once Nile and Duke met up with me I walked towards where Merlin was facing. After a bit of walking I found an open pasture that had tall grass, but what was something odd about it. The grass in the center of the pasture was flattened. The ends of the grass blades all pointed away from the center kind of like what would happen if a….helicopter landed here. I glanced around the area and saw trails in the grass that are formed when people walk through it.

I followed one of the trails and found an area of ground that looked torn up and there was a toppled tree off to the side. In the dirt I could see the foot prints of people and pokemon alike. Then I found larger prints of a three toed creature that sunk about six inches into the ground. Whatever made them had to be massive. Oh my god, that Aggron must've been here, and from the looks of things it fought who ever these people from the helicopter were.

But wait, all the tracks made by the people have trails that lead back to where the chopper would be but not the Aggron's. His just end and go nowhere, like he just disappeared…or got captured!

"Oh no." I muttered distressfully as I came to the horrible realization.

"But who could do thi…" I said before I knew exactly who.

"Team Rocket!" I said angrily.

I can't believe this, it was them in that chopper from before this whole time. I have to go back and tell Lyra and her Grandfather what happened. I trekked my way back to the house and met up with Lyra and her Grandfather, I told them the news and brought them to the spot that Merlin found. Frank looked distraught by the story I told him and he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"I can't believe this, that poor Aggron." Frank said in an upset tone.

"He didn't stand a chance against them, he wasn't breed to be fighter. What could Team Rocket possible want with him, I mean the poor thing is scared of thunderstorms for crying out loud!"

"They're probably going to sell him. We have to do something." I said ready to take on those team rocket bastards.

"There's nothing we can do Gold. This isn't like before when we knew where they were." Lyra commented.

"Arrgh damn it your right." I said clenching my fist.

"What am I supposed to tell my client now?" said Frank in a gloomy tone.

Lyra and I both glanced at Frank and saw the look of discontent on his face.

"That man trusted me with his pokemon and I let him down." he said as if the weight of the world has just come crashing down on him.

"It's not your fault Grandpa" Lyra said trying to make him fell better.

Unfortunately that seemed to do little in alleviating his feeling of guilt. The fact that Team Rocket was long gone and that I could do nothing to help fix this was eating away at me.

"*sigh* Lets just head back to the house, there's nothing more we can do. I'm going to have to call the police and let them know what happened. Things are going to get hectic around here soon so I suggest you two head out before they get here." frank said in stern voice.

"Are you sure, we can help you know." Lyra commented

"No trust me, I think it's best that you leave now, I don't want you to get involved with police questioning. This is my mess to deal with not yours."

As much as I wanted to stay and help, Frank was right, there is nothing we can do now. Lyra and I both said our goodbyes and we left the daycare with our heads held low. What was supposed to be an exciting visit has taken a turn for the worse. If I ever figure out where those Rocket bastards are hiding, they'll regret the day they stole that Aggron.


End file.
